A major controversy arose during Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra’s javelin throw event at the Asian Games. His first attempt was not measured, leading Anju Bobby George, a legendary athlete, to accuse Chinese officials of cheating and specifically targeting the Indian athletes. Chopra had seemingly cleared the 85m mark, but the officials didn’t record the effort and provided no explanation. Chopra expressed his confusion and frustration, stating that he repeatedly asked about his first throw but received no satisfactory response from the officials. He eventually won the gold medal on his fourth attempt.
Kishore Jena, who won the silver medal alongside Chopra, also faced a similar situation when his second throw was initially invalidated for crossing the line, but the decision was later reversed. Anju Bobby George, the senior vice president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), accused the officials of intentionally targeting the Indian athletes. She claimed that they were trying to cheat and disrupt their performances. Anju went on to say that winning in China is difficult as their officials often engage in mischief and distractions to disturb the athletes.
Chopra mentioned that winning in China is challenging, and though the Indian athletes excel in running, throwing, and jumping, the Chinese officials often resort to such mischief. When asked about the reason for not measuring his first throw, one official claimed that the second athlete after Chopra took his throw quickly. Chopra found this situation bizarre, as it resulted in the loss of a potentially excellent throw that could have mentally relieved him. Eventually, it was decided that he would be given another throw for the first attempt, and Chopra agreed to it, demonstrating his sportsmanship.
Chopra’s next attempt measured 82.38m. However, he managed to secure a gold medal with a season’s best throw of 88.8m on his fourth attempt. Jena, the other Indian competitor, won the silver medal with a throw of 87.54m, securing a spot in the 2024 Olympics. Chopra highlighted several other alleged instances of cheating, including the disqualification of hurdler Jyothi Yarraji for a false start before her medal was upgraded, and the failure to measure Annu Rani’s throw.
Chopra expressed disappointment at the way his first throw was handled in such a significant competition. He also mentioned similar issues faced by Jyothi and Jena. Despite the challenges, Chopra emphasized the team’s good results, but felt that the Indian athletics team should investigate why they are facing numerous issues. Anju Bobby George also believed that the Chinese officials intentionally targeted Indian athletes. She even questioned the accuracy of the measurements for long jumper M Sreeshankar’s jumps, suspecting that one of them was wrongly flagged as a foul.
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