The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Mothers of Olympic stars Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem are winning hearts.
Hours after Neeraj Chopra clinched silver at the Paris Olympics on Thursday (August 8), his mother, Saroj Devi, while praising him said that Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won the gold, is also “our child who has worked hard.”
Chopra won the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw event in Paris, making him the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win two successive Olympic medals after he won the gold in Tokyo in 2020.
Devi, in an interaction with ANI, expressed how elated the family was with Chopra’s win and referred to Nadeem as hamara ladka (our child) saying that he has worked hard, too.
“Everyone is really happy. For us, silver is also gold… the boy who got gold [Arshad Nadeem] is also my child, everyone goes there after doing a lot of hard work,” Chopra’s mother said.
Echoing the same sentiment, Arshad’s mother, Raziah Parveen, said she sees Neeraj the same way as she sees her own son. “He is also like my son. He is Nadeem’s friend and also his brother. Wins and losses are part of the sport. May god bless him, may he win medals. They are like brothers, I’ve prayed for Neeraj too,” said Arshad’s mother in an interview to a Pakistani channel.
Pakistan’s Nadeem broke the Olympic record with his 92.97m throw in his second attempt, making it difficult to beat for the rest of the lot including Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo gold medalist, the Economic Times reported.
Chopra, who is dealing with a groin injury that forced him to skip the 2022 Commonwealth Games, managed just one legitimate throw of 89.45m in the second round to secure the second position.
‘Everyone has their day, today it was Pakistan’s’
Neeraj’s father, Satish, expressed immense pride in his son’s performance and said that it was Pakistan’s day in the men’s javelin throw final. He also said that Chopra’s injury had a role in his performance.
“Everyone has their day. Today was Pakistan’s day. But we have won silver, and it is a proud thing for us. I think his groin injury had a part in his performance,” Satish told ANI.
“Neeraj’s success in Paris will serve as an inspiration for the next generation. He has won silver for the country. We are happy and proud. All the youths will get inspired by him,” he told reporters as the family celebrated Chopra’s win.
Devi also said that she would make churma for him. “He (Neeraj Chopra) has done very well and we will give him a grand welcome upon his return. He loves churma, so we will make it for him.”
Devi referring to the Pakistani player as her child invoked heartwarming reactions on the internet while also serving as a break from the sea of communal context that tends to dominate discourse around India-Pak relations. A user on X wrote, “Ma ke dil mein sab ke liye pyaar hota hai (There’s love for everyone in a mother’s heart).”
Earlier this year, Chopra had also expressed his support for Nadeem when the Pak player revealed he had been struggling to secure a new javelin and had been using the same equipment for nearly eight years. “It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged, and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics,” Nadeem had said in March this year.
“It is hard to believe that he has been struggling to get a new javelin,” Chopra had remarked. “Given his credentials, this should not be a big issue at all. Arshad is a top javelin thrower, and I believe that the javelin makers will be more than happy to sponsor him and provide what he needs,” Chopra had said urging the Pakistan government to help Nadeem.