New Delhi [India], Dec 23 (ANI): Reacting on his coach Uwe Hohn voicing concerns over the delay in procuring equipment, insufficient support staff and poor diet, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Sunday said that "things can't happen in a jiffy" in a big country.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, the Commonwealth gold medallist said: "Ours is a huge country, things can't happen in a jiffy."
"My coach, Uwe Hohn is from Germany, so sports system there is different from what we have here. He has written to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) so that I can go out and focus on training for 2-3 months. Right now, training is fine but as programmes are happening here and there, I have to attend them which hampers my training. He is in talks but things are getting delayed because of holidays and Christmas," he added.
Speaking about the matter, director general of Sports Authority of India (SAI) Neelam Kapoor said that they have sanctioned an amount of Rs. 32 lakh for the Javelin equipment which would be reaching the athlete anytime. Calling Chopra their top priority, Kapoor said that the TOPS team had visited National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala about a month back but no diet-related issue was raised by the athlete at that time.
"He (Chopra) is our top priority. He is fully funded under TOPS. In terms of his training, equipment, coaches he is being given the top priority. We have sanctioned Rs 32 lakh for Javelin equipment and they should be reaching anytime now," Kapoor told ANI.
"Our TOPS team visited Patiala sports institute about a month back and they talked to Chopra asking him if there are any issues. He said everything is fine. He did not complain about anything. The issue related to diet was not highlighted to us at that time. He was waiting for new javelins and that issue was resolved," she added.
Kapoor also revealed that they have instructed the director of NIS to look into the diet-related matter.
When asked about the letter written by Chopra's coach to SAI, the director general said that as of now, she has not received any letter.
Chopra, who bagged a gold medal in 2018 Asian Games while clocked a national record (87.43 metres) to finish fourth in IAAF Diamond League, also lauded the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for "doing pretty good things for sports in the nation."
"They have run Khelo India and they are working more. I hope in the coming year's things will get better," he added.
When quizzed about his preparations for Olympics Tokyo 2020, Chopra said: "First of all I have World Championship next year, so I am preparing for it. If things go well then automatically I will be motivated for Olympics. I have my target set on the Olympics." (ANI)
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