Men’s javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem, centre, of Pakistan, silver medalist, Neeraj Chopra, of India, left, and bronze medalist, Anderson Peters, of Grenada, pose for a selfie on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
At Paris Olympics there is a new tradition of taking selfies on the medals podium. And like every other medal winning bunch, javelin gold winner Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem and silver medal winner India’s Neeraj Chopra also took a selfie along with bronze medal winner Anderson Peter of Grenada on Friday.
With India and Pakistan sharing a strained political relationship, this gesture by Neeraj and Arshad on the podium at the grandest stage painted a picture of unity and mutual respect. “It was a very healthy competition, with Arshad doing a great job and breaking the Olympic record. Big congratulations to him. I wish our competition continues to be this strong. We will keep working hard and give javelin support in our countries while motivating kids who may want to take up the sport,” Neeraj said.
Along with the two athletes, who share a great rapport on and off the field, their mothers also share the samne feeling.
“We are very happy with the silver, the one who got gold is also our child and the one who got silver is also our child….all are athletes, all work hard,” Chopra’s mother Saroj Devi told PTI Videos.
“Nadeem is also good, he plays well, there is no difference between Neeraj and Nadeem. We got gold and silver there is no difference for us,” she added.
In Khanewal village of Pakistan’s Punjab, Nadeem’s mother Raziah Parveen echoed the sentiment shared by Saroj Devi. “They are not only friends but brothers and I also pray for Neeraj that he gets more success,” she told a channel called ‘Indy Urdu’.
“Neeraj is also like our son and I pray for him that he wins medals. Winning and losing is part of sport but they are like brothers,” she added.
This was not the first time that the Paris Olympics had seen a scenes of unity between athletes of two countries sharing frosty relations.
Last month, Olympic table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea also took a selfie together on the medal podium which was hailed as a rare instance of cross-border unity between these two neighbours whose ties have tensed over the last year with North Korea declared the South its principal enemy.
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First uploaded on: 10-08-2024 at 22:51 IST
