Yogeshwar Dutt and Krishna Poonia react to Neeraj Chopra's Gold win at Tokyo

The entire country has been savoring Neeraj Chopra's Gold medal as history books get re-written post his heroic accomplishment at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. As this win proves to be a driving force for more youth to partake in international events like the Olympics, Republic Media Network captured the reaction of Indian freestyle wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and discus thrower Krishna Poonia. It is important to note that both these players are Padma Shri recipients and have made India proud in their respective fields. 

Bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt on Chopra's win and the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024

Yogeshwar Dutt interacted exclusively with Republic while he shared this moment of happiness as Neeraj Chopra claimed Gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He also mentioned the proud feeling when the Indian national anthem was played and the national flag was unfurled. He stated that "History had indeed been rewritten today with Chopra's gold medal.
In my opinion, the 2024 Paris Games, we would get to witness even better performances and players would bring even more pride to the nation. Dutt noted the immense determination shown by the players who had managed to keep themselves healthy and active even while dealing with the atrocious times of the pandemic. Dutt said that India is celebrating both Holi and Diwali today. He also did not forget to mention that India had claimed 6 medals at the Beijing games as compared to the present tally of seven at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

On the development of the youth and how Chopra's win would inspire more athletes to perform well, Dutt said, "No player prepared for the Olympics with the mentality to participate rather they strive to win medals. The hunger for medals in every player has helped achieve where India is today. Dutt was very satisfied with today's performance by Chopra and also noted the contribution of Indian wrestlers in raising the medal tally to new extremes.

Krishna Poonia lets her thoughts out

Indian discus thrower and Arjuna Award recipient Krishna Poonia hailed Neeraj Chopra's incredible achievement in making the country proud in track and field events. While interacting with Republic via a telephonic conversation, she expressed no doubts when asked about India's performance at the upcoming Paris Games and said that a major change would follow in the coming times. She said, "Our country needs to understand that athletics is the mother of all games and is also considered the toughest amongst all with a lot of competition." While concluding, she conferred her kind wishes and indicated how more and more youths would strive to similar goals after this mammoth of achievement by Chopra.

Image Credits - PTI