Gold medalist Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem(L) and Silver medalist India's Neeraj Chopra after the men's javelin throw final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Thursday, August 8, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The camaraderie between Indian superstar Neeraj Chopra and Pakistani javelin ace Arshad Nadeem clearly shows that sport transcends borders and unites people, feels former India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
On Thursday, Nadeem clinched the gold medal with a stunning Olympic record throw of 92.97m while defending champion Chopra took the silver with a season's best effort of 89.45m, in Paris.
"We have seen some good pictures where Neeraj and Nadeem after the ceremony, they were talking with each other... with both of them holding their own flags and respecting each other as a sportsperson. That's what shows that sports is beyond any boundaries and sports unites everyone, so great message by both of them," Harbhajan said.
"See it's like India-Pakistan. When we played against Pakistan in cricket, obviously we are very competitive on the field but when it comes to off the field we share a good bond."
The 44-year-old off-spinner, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP, also alluded to the statement of Chopra's mother after the javelin final in Paris.
"Neeraj's mother has given a great statement that even the gold winner (Nadeem) is also son of some mother and he is also like our own son. So it's good to see that type of statement coming and obviously sports is something beyond.
"Congratulations to him (Nadeem) for winning the gold and Neeraj, he is our pride, our hero, he is a legend." Harbhajan said Chopra has been an inspiration for the young generation with his exploits on and off the field.
"What he has done is a great thing for all of us, to keep the flag high is the highest priority. Being an athlete, I can understand you always want to finish at the top but sports is all about giving your best and he has given his best, even though he couldn't win the gold.
"But he has won a lot of hearts and he definitely has inspired the generations and congratulations to Neeraj for winning back-to-back medals for India. This is a great thing," said Harbhajan, one of India's greatest spinners.
Harbhajan also expressed his disappointment at wrestler Vinesh Phogat being disqualified from the 50kg gold-medal bout for being 100gm overweight, prompting her to announce a shock retirement after lodging an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision.
"It's very disappointing and sad to see Vinesh not being able to play the final just because she was overweight by 100gm. If you see, 100gm is nothing but rules are such in Olympics and they are for everyone.
"Obviously as an athlete, she must be going through a lot. All we can say is we stand with her in this difficult period and hopefully she will recover one day because it's very hard for anyone to go through this as she was just close to getting medal for India.
"It's very disappointing not to see her with the gold medal but she is our gold medal, she is our pride, she is nation's hero."
He refused to dwell on if the issue could have been handled better.
"Of course they have got the team, they have worked really hard to get the situation right but unfortunately that didn't happen."