Olympian Anju Bobby George feels Neeraj Chopra's gold medal in javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics will motivate more sportsperson to pick athletics as a discipline in sports. Neeraj Chopra created history on Saturday as he became the first from the country to win a gold in track and field in the Olympics. He threw the javelin to a distance of 87.58m to pick the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
"World Champion medal or an Olympic medal in athletics is something great, it is not easy because we are competing against multiple opponents and 216 countries so the value is more," Anju Bobby George told ANI.
"Common talk was like athletics getting a medal is not that easy but now it is gold from Olympics so beyond that what else we can ask and what else we can expect. Our chances are bright and more sportspersons will come into athletics and they can find it as a career option," she added.
Anju Bobby George had finished 6th in the long jump event of the Athens Olympics. The Olympian cited her example to describe how big Neeraj's achievement is.
"Athletics competition is beyond our imagination, and the world is competing for that it's the mother of all sport. Like football, athletic Olympic medal has that kind of value," she said.
"So the competition toughness is very high and equal athletes are competing. (Johannes) Vetter was there but Neeraj won the gold, so the competitive spirit is different.
"Like me, in 2004 I was not well, I was all set for a medal but I couldn't bring a medal for our country. So that day who is doing well will get the medal. So the uncertainty is the beauty of sport," she added.
Anju Bobby George is confident that Neeraj will continue his dream run in upcoming tournaments.
"He has already proved, he is the Olympic champion what else he needs to prove. So I think he will keep up the tempo. He doesn't need advice from anyone in the country, he'll keep it up," she signed off.
( With inputs from ANI )
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