Olympic overture: Modi praises sporting spirit of Chopra’s mother for calling Arshad like her son

KARACHI: Following the historic victory of Arshad Nadeem over his Indian rival Neeraj Chopra in the Paris Olympics, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised the Indian athlete’s mother for showing the sporting spirit when she described Nadeem like her son.

On Thursday, Nadeem won the gold medal and Chopra the silver medal in the javelin throw competition at the Olympics Games 2024.

Commenting on the results, Chopra’s mother Saroj Devi expressed happiness at Nadeem winning the gold medal. She said she was happy with her son winning the silver medal and that the Pakistani athlete who won the gold medal was also like her son.

Later, a video of Chopra conversing with the Indian prime minister on the phone emerged in which the latter could be heard congratulating the Indian javelin thrower, who had won the gold medal in the previous Olympics, for winning the silver medal this time. Modi praised Chopra’s mother for congratulating Nadeem and showing the spirit of a sports family when she said that he was also like her son. Returning the same gesture, Nadeem’s mother in a media talk also stated that Chopra was like her son and a brother to Nadeem. “I prayed for him [Chopra] too; he’s like a brother to Nadeem. May God grant him great success...,” said Nadeem’s mother.