Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem’s Friendly Rivalry Excites Fans at Paris Olympics

As the Paris Olympics gear up, all eyes are on the thrilling javelin rivalry between Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem. Kishore Jena, another Indian javelin thrower, recently shared his thoughts on this much-anticipated matchup, emphasizing that their competition is all in good spirits.

Kishore pointed out that outside the competitive arena, Neeraj and Arshad have a solid friendship and there’s no bad blood between them. He stated, “No, it’s not like that. Since it’s the Olympics, a lot of countries have come. We don’t think like that. There is nothing like that. It is friendly when we meet them. I also meet them. There is no such intention.”

This rivalry began to heat up when Neeraj and Arshad finished first and second, respectively, at the World Championships in August 2023. Fans were left disappointed when they couldn’t witness these two stars clash at the Asian Games, but the upcoming Olympics offers a golden opportunity to reignite that spark.

With the men’s javelin event on the horizon, everyone is eagerly waiting to see how these athletes perform, especially since Neeraj is the reigning Olympic champion, defending his gold medal from the Tokyo 2020 Games.

The excitement continues to build as the Indian contingent, which consists of 117 athletes, prepares to compete at the Paris Olympics. Among these athletes, 61% are first-time Olympians and will be looking to make their mark on the world stage.