Shoaib Akhtar emotional after Neeraj Chopra's mother calls Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem 'hamara ladka'

Add as a preferred source on Google

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar hailed Neeraj Chopra's mother Saroj Devi for her gold standard comment after her son won silver medal at the men's javelin throw event of Paris Olympics 2024 on Thursday.

Saroj Devi rejoiced Neeraj Chopra's historic triumph, and said that Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who won the gold medal, was also like her son. The statement from Neeraj Chopra went viral immediately.

"We are happy with the silver. The one who got the gold (Arshad Nadeem) is also our child," She said while speaking to ANI.

Shoaib Akhtar, who himself shared a very close bond with her mother before she passed away in December 2021, got emotional as he shared the exact message from Neeraj Chopra's mother, and added that only mothers could say something like this.

The X post from Shoaib Akhtar read - "Gold jis ka hai, wo bhi hamara he larka hai". Yeh baat sirf aik maa he keh sakti hai. Amazing. (The person who won gold, he is also our son. This can only be said by a mother. Amazing).

Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem have a healthy relation, and mutual respect for each other. The star Indian javelin thrower, who won gold at Tokyo Olympics 2021, has made a plea for Arshad Nadeem earlier this year as he struggled to acquire a new international-standard javelin.

"It is hard to believe that he has been struggling to get a new javelin. 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. This is a piece of advice from my side," Neeraj Chopra had said in Arshad Nadeem's support.

Neeraj Chopra made history on late Thursday night by becoming the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win two consecutive Olympic medals. After making his season best throw of 89.45 meters in the qualification round, the 26-year-old made improvements with an 89.34 meters throw in his second attempt in the final.

However, Arshad Nadeem's new Olympics record throw of 92.97 in his second attempt could not be breached despite six attempts each made by all top eight finalists. Arshad is Pakistan's first-ever individual gold medal at the Olympics.