Neeraj Chopra on why he agreed to rethrow: ‘Other athletes were cooling down and it was getting unfair on them’

A livid Anju Bobby George, who is a Senior Vice President Athletics Federation of India, told journalists after the event, "I don't know why they are doing this with Indian athletes. They are trying to cheat us, disturb our athletes."

India's Neeraj Chopra (R) and Kishore Kumar Jena wave the national flag after securing gold and silver medal respectively in the Men's Javelin Throw Final event at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. (PTI Photo

India's Neeraj Chopra (right) and Kishore Kumar Jena wave the national flag after securing gold and silver at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. (PTI Photo)

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Neeraj Chopra retained his gold medal at the Asian Games at Hangzhou after a goof-up which forced him to retake his first throw. The incident happened because the officials had not measured his throw before the next thrower had launched his javelin.

It was a bizarre moment, and after he initially protested, Neeraj agreed to throw his first attempt again. The javelin looked like it had crossed the 85m mark. His revised first attempt landed at the 82.38m mark. Neeraj eventually threw 88.88m with his fourth throw to seal the title.

India’s Kishore Kumar Jena also shrugged off a wrongly awarded red flag to claim the silver medal with a throw of 87.54m. He bettered his personal best twice in the competition and also made the cut for the Paris Olympics.

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After winning the gold, Neeraj said he was also flummoxed by having to throw seven times instead of six. But when asked why he had agreed to re-throw again he said: “I protested first. But the other athletes were waiting for me to throw again. I was apologising to them for making them wait. It was breezy and other athletes were cooling down. It was getting unfair on them. So they offered me a re-throw and I accepted.”

He added: “The first throw looked good, I’ll look at the video again to see how far it might have gone. It’s surprising, they didn’t measure it. I am still puzzled, apparently the second athlete threw before they could even measure my throw and they lost the mark then.”

It’s the first time something like this has happened with me in a competition this big. It happened with Jyothi (Yarraji in the 100m women’s hurdles), Jena and me. So there’s something wrong. But still, we have shown how hard we’ve worked and won medals. I haven’t seen anything like this in a big tournament. Athletes can get mentally down, even Jyothi was affected.”

Meanwhile, a livid Anju Bobby George, who is a Senior Vice President Athletics Federation of India, told journalists after the event, “Neeraj’s first throw was a very good throw. But they weren’t ready to measure it. Same thing also happened with Annu Rani (who won gold for India in women’s javelin throw event) yesterday. I don’t know why they are doing this with Indian athletes. They are trying to cheat us, disturb our athletes. Neeraj’s first throw was a very good one.”

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After the medal, Neeraj heaped praise on his compatriot who had pushed him in the javelin throw final and had briefly taken the lead.

“Apna hi banda push kar raha hai (My compatriot is pushing me.) What can be better than that,” he said about being overtaken briefly by Jena before thanking him for boosting him with the throw.

Talking to the official broadcasters, Sony LIV, Neeraj said: “Today I thought I would cross the 90m mark. But then the thing with the first throw happened. Acchi throw thi. Naapa nahi unhone. Kaafi officials ke saath behas bhi hui. (It was a good throw, but they didn’t measure it. So there was some argument with them also)

“But today I’m very happy for Jena. He’s also qualified for the Olympics. Bohot mazaa aa raha tha. Jena ne mazaa diya aaj. (It became very entertaining. Jena made it lot of fun for me),” he said.