Neeraj Chopra might have created history for India by winning back-to-back Olympics medals, but the champion javelin thrower is eager to repeat history in the LA Olympics. It remains his target to see the Indian anthem being played at the Olympic podium again. Chopra’s father Satish Chopra, who was present during a felicitation ceremony by JSW Sports in Chandigarh, shared how the champion athlete is not contended with the two Olympics medals and eager to win more. “Neeraj has always cherished winning medals for India and seeing the Indian flag rise high at the Olympics podium. When he is home, he likes to celebrate these medals with small moments of joy and that’s what keeps us living his dream too. He has always aspired to better himself since his childhood and that will be his target as long as he represents India at the international stage,” said Satish. Chopra’s uncle Bhim Chopra too echoed the thought. “If Neeraj coming from a normal family can win an Olympic medal, then any kid in India can achieve such a dream,” the Olympics medallist’s uncle said. The event also featured the members of the Paris Olympics bronze medal winning hockey team including captain Harmanpreet Singh, and bronze medal winning shooters Swapnil Kusale and Sarabjot Singh. “From travelling to my village Dhin to Ambala to train daily as a youngster to winning the bronze medal at Paris Olympics remains career high for me. but then this is just the start and making India proud again at the Olympics remains the target,” said Sarabjot, who paired up with Manu Bhaker to win the 10m air pistol mixed team in the Paris Olympics. Indian hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh shared that the Indian hockey team is not contending with winning back-to-back bronze medals in Olympics. “We will try for more in our careers. We are not satisfied with the bronze medal in Tokyo and Paris and till the time we do not win the Olympics gold medal, our journey will go on. Indian hockey has been on the rise and we are hungry for more,” added Harmanpreet. While Paris Olympics multiple bronze medallist shooter Bhaker missed her flight from Delhi to Chandigarh and could not attend the event, her father Ram Kishan Bhaker shared how the athlete regrouped herself after the debacle in Tokyo Olympics. “As a youngster, Manu started playing martial arts and later boxing too. We supported her in whatever field she wanted to pursue and she always wanted to excel in whatever field she competes in. Obviously, she was disappointed with what happened in Tokyo but then she also understood that the pistol malfunction can happen anytime and there is a one in a million chance that it can happen. It was important for her to forget about Tokyo and refocus and that’s what she did in Paris. To win two medals for India and to come fourth in one event, where she thinks she could have won the gold, has been the highest point in her career and there will be more such moments,” said Ram Kishan. Meanwhile, Parth Jindal, founder JSW Sports, shared his thoughts when he started the dream of supporting Indian athletes. “We started the dream to support athletes at a young stage in 2012. I had travelled through Europe and the US and saw the specialised training centres as well the support at the collegiate level. Our dream was to develop such centres in India and that’s what JSW Sports and IIS aspire to do,” he said. “Whatever we are doing, we are complementing whatever support the government is providing and I am glad that we can contribute to India's medal tally at the Olympics since 2012. We see us supporting more than 50 athletes for the Los Angeles Olympics and hopefully India wins more medals in LA,” concluded the JSW founder.
