“Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic medal made everyone proud”: PM Modi in Greece

Athens [Greece]: During the address to the Indian diaspora at the Athens Conservatoire in Greece, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra for making India proud on the global stage by winning an Olympics gold medal. He also said that the passion for sports is increasing in the country.

“Greece is the place where the Olympics originated. The passion for sports is increasing in the Indian youth. Athletes coming from small towns in India are performing wonderfully from the Olympics to the University Games. When Neeraj Chopra won a medal in the Olympics, everyone was proud,” PM Modi said in his address.

Neeraj Chopra won gold in the men’s javelin throw at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He is the only Indian athlete in track and field to clinch gold for India.

Earlier in the day, India’s ‘Golden Boy’ produced another sterling performance to seal his spot in the men’s javelin throw final at the prestigious World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The World Athletics Championships 2023 is being held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest from August 19 to 27.

Interacting the place from where the Olympics originated, PM Modi said that in recent years the passion for sports has increased in Indian youth.

PM Modi also praised the Indian youth performance in the World University Games.

“A few days back, even in World University Games, Indian youth performed amazingly well,” he added.

Indian athletes participated in the FISU World University Games in Chengdu and finished the tournament with 26 medals. India finished seventh with their best performance in history.

India’s previous best performance at the World University Games came at Gwangju 2015, where Indian athletes won five medals – one gold, one silver and three bronze.