After returning from Tokyo, where Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra won the historic gold medal in the Olympic Games, the Athlete attended ‘incessant’ felicitation functions. Neeraj due to these functions even fell sick which meant he lost on time to prepare for next events. In his interview to Times of India, the Olympic gold medalist blamed these functions for him missing out on Diamond League 2021. Did Arshad Nadeem Take Away Neeraj Chopra’s Javelin During Tokyo Olympics 2020? (Watch Video).

 “The attention is indeed important, but there's a Diamond League at the end of the month. I had planned to participate in it, but my training stopped completely once I returned from the Olympic Games because of the incessant number of functions. I also fell sick. This is why I feel my fitness is not up there now. I can't compete properly. That's why I have to skip the event. I had planned to compete in at least two-three events,” Neeraj was quoted as saying by Times of India.

“These things need to change in Indian sport. All other Olympic champions are participating in Diamond Leagues. Their season is continuing. We can't be satisfied with one gold medal. We need to think at a global level. We need to continuously perform at global events like the Diamond Leagues,” he added.

The 23-year-old clinched India’s lone gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. It was also India first Olympic gold in Javelin Throw and in the track and field events. He also became only the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold after shooter Abhinav Bindra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2021 01:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).