Neeraj Chopra won gold in the men's javelin at the 2023 World Athletics Championships on Sunday with a best throw of 88.17m, making him the first Indian to win gold at a Worlds.
A few hours after the event, he would speak to journalists in a freewheeling press conference. Here are excerpts from the chat, which he attended alongside Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla:
On the Worlds being tougher than the Olympics
"It's a very special feeling to have won the Olympics and the World Championships. Competition-wise, the World Championships is always tougher than the Olympics. Athletes train very hard for this. I am most happy about the fact that I won today, and two more Indians were with me. I'm very happy to see how Indian athletics is growing."
On the GOAT question
Considering the 25-year-old has won everything there is to win -- the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Diamond League -- he was asked if he was the GOAT in Indian athletics.
"I will never say that about myself. Everyone said only the World Championships medal was left for me to win, but I feel there's still more for me to improve on and that I need to throw better. I will not say this about myself, I have a lot more to achieve and I will focus on that.
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�� World Championships 2023
�� World Championships 2022
�� Diamond League 2022
�� Asian Games 2018
�� Commonwealth Games 2018
�� Asian Championships 2017
�� South Asian Games 2016NEERAJ CHOPRA. LEGEND �� pic.twitter.com/CpLYuyv1j9
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) August 27, 2023
Sumariwalla, though, had no doubts: "He is someone who has won the World Championships, Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Diamond League...it's a no-brainer."
On the motivation to push himself now
"As they say, throwers don't have a finish line. No matter how many medals you win, there will always be the motivation that you can throw further. To win a medal does not mean we have won everything. Many athletes have won the same medal multiple times. I will push myself to win these medals again and it will be amazing if more Indian athletes join me on the podium."
On hitting (or not hitting) the elusive 90m mark
"This year, everything has gone well except for the groin injury. I have left it [crossing the 90m mark] to time. I have been around the 88m mark since 2018 and came closer to 90m last year, but it depends on the day, and I don't know when the day will come. I am just waiting for the day and time. It will come soon."
"I had thought about hitting the 90m mark in between, but I now feel that it's more important to win a medal. There were 90m throwers here and I have been competing against them regularly and I am winning [without needing to hit the 90m mark]. I consider consistency very important, and I feel that gives me confidence in big events."
Along with consistency, Neeraj considers self-belief as the two pillars of his success. "I feel consistency is from self-belief and not having major injuries. If until the last throw, I don't do my best, then I know that I will do it in my last attempt. I did that at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar and at the World Championships in Eugene last year. Self-belief is very important. You need that drive to push yourself."
On his compatriot competitors
Neeraj winning gold was not the only historic achievement of the day - in a first, there were three Indians in the final and all finished in the top 6. Kishore Kumar Jena recorded a personal best 84.77m to finish fifth, while DP Manu threw 84.14m to take the sixth spot.
Three Indians in the world's top six. How good is that? ���� pic.twitter.com/Rvql34TeGP
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) August 27, 2023
"I'm very happy for Kishore, who did really well and registered a personal best. Manu also threw well. We've set a very good mark - to have three Indians in the final and finish in the top 8. Their confidence will increase going forward. It's good that Kishore claimed a personal best in such a big event. I feel you will see a lot more in the future."
On not being fully fit
Neeraj said he remained cautious throughout the evening to ensure he didn't strain his groin again. He's struggled with an adductor strain, which has curtailed his season this year.
"My focus was to throw better, even until my last throw. I was cautious of my injury and had that in the back of my mind but I also wanted to push at the same time. I'm very happy to win gold and hopefully will do better in the next competitions and at the Paris Olympics."
On Arshad Nadeem: friend and silver medalist
"I felt good that Arshad did well. We met after the competition, and he said he was happy both our countries are doing well. The Europeans were the top athletes earlier and now we both are winning, it's good for our countries. It will be good to compete with him again at the Asian Games."
But whenever Neeraj and Arshad compete, the "India vs Pakistan" narrative takes over.
"That's a rivalry in itself. I don't use my mobile phone much before competitions, but I did today and saw that it was being labelled as an "India vs Pakistan" competition. But these European throwers are dangerous and can do well at any time. You can never see just one Arshad as competition, even Jakub [Vadlejch, who took bronze] and [Julian] Weber can come around at any time. I think about every thrower until the last throw. The India vs Pakistan angle is good for the competition, but in worldwide competitions, I focus on all athletes."
On India's performance at these Worlds
"All the Indian athletes did well this time. There were a lot of new faces and the men's 4x400m relay created a new Asian record. Many new athletes have come about and there is new hope. I feel we will do well at the next Olympics."
Among the medal prospects here were long jumper Sreeshankar Murali and steeplechaser Avinash Sable, both of whom failed to make it to the finals of their events.
"I spoke to Sreeshankar and Avinash. They knew where they fell short and I told them not to feel too sad. It is common to feel bad when you train so hard for such a big competition [and don't win]. I told them to think about what they lacked here at the World Championships and to train in such a manner that they don't repeat the mistakes. I asked them to use this as a source of motivation and do well going forward."