Here's how Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic gold medal helped Indian athletes to perform well at Commonwealth Games 2022

Neeraj Chopra missed out on the Commonwealth Games 2022 due to an injury. The Olympic gold medalist sustained an injury at the World Athletics Championships. The youngster had to back out of the Birmingham event after bagging silver at the World Athletics Championships.

India ended up fourth in the medal tally with sixty-one medals to its name. India bagged as many as twenty-two gold medals, sixteen bronze medals and twenty-three bronze medals. The athletes put on a heavy show to bring medals back home and some of them won their first ever medal at the Games.

One of the coaches of the Indian contingent has revealed that it was Chopra’s victory in the Olympics that cheered the athletes. This enabled the athletes to overcome the mental barrier and fire up on the big stage. The likes of Eldhouse Paul, Abdulla Aboobacker, and Avinash Sable have made India proud. They ensured that the Olympic gold medalist was not missed at the multi-sport event.

Indian women also spared no chances to make the country proud. Priyanka Goswami managed to bag a silver in the women’s 1000m race walk. Annu Rani brought back a bronze medal in javelin throw. Indian men, on the other hand, won one gold medal, three silver medals and two bronze medals. Eight of the sixty-one medals that India won at the Commonwealth Games have come from the athletics category. And it reveals that the gold medal for Neeraj Chopra at the Tokyo Olympics has rather inspired them.

There is more awareness and more athletes are emerging: Sriram Singh

Indian 1976 Olympics hero Sriram Singh opined that the increase in awareness has resulted in an increase in the number of athletes. He added that the Indian government is trying its best to increase the facilities for the athletes.

“The government is also trying to give the best of facilities and that has also resulted in this fine show. It's a great feat to finish 1-2 in the men's triple jump. ‘If Neeraj can win, then why can't I do the same’ is the new thinking. There is more awareness and more athletes are emerging. It also shows that our men can do well as we were depending more on our women athletes from the time of PT Usha,” Singh added.