Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem grateful to Neeraj Chopra's mother, says 'She's my mother too'

Days after clinching the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the Paris Olympics 2024, Pakistan's superstar Arshad Nadeem has given a heartwarming reply to Neeraj Chopra’s mother for her kind words.

Nadeem even stated that it is due to Saroj Devi's wishes and prayers that both he and Neeraj finished together on the podium.

"A mother is a mother for everyone, so she prays for everyone too. I'm grateful to Neeraj Chopra's mother. She's my mother too. She prayed for us, and we were just two players from South Asia who performed on the world stage," Pakistani media quoted Nadeem as saying after he returned home in the early hours of Sunday.

Earlier, after India's Neeraj Chopra won the silver medal, his mother Saroj Devi congratulated the two players, and her words expressed warmth towards Arshad Nadeem, the gold medallist from Pakistan.

“We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold is also like our son. Neeraj was injured, so we are happy with his performance. I will cook his favourite food,” ANI quoted Saroj Devi as saying.

Soon after Arshad's 91.79m throw in the final attempt of the javelin throw, followed by his Olympic record of 92.97m throw, Neeraj congratulated his Pakistani counterpart.

Neeraj referred it as 'the greatest javelin throw competition'.

"Javelin is not popular in India and Pakistan. I know Arshad Nadeem worked very hard, it's a great news for him and for the people in Pakistan. He deserved to win tonight, we're both making our countries proud," HT quoted Neeraj as saying.

Chopra's father, Satish Kumar, has only one message for his son: “Everyone has their day. Today was Pakistan's day. But we have won silver, which is a proud thing for us.”

With agency inputs.