Tajinderpal Singh Toor: Indian athletes don’t think of themselves any lesser than top athletes

World champion Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics has brought a ‘sense of belief’ that Indian athletes do not think of themselves ‘any lesser than top global athletes’, says top shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor.

Toor, a two-time Asian Games gold medallist, says that the change in mindset after Chopra’s feat has made the Indian athletes believe they will compete in the Paris Olympics to win and not just participate.

“Ever since Neeraj Chopra’s gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games, it’s brought a sense of self-belief where each one of us are not just going to the games to participate, but we are going there to win a medal,” Toor said on Saturday during a panel discussion on the eve of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru.

He said, “I think that’s the shift in mindset today. We don’t think of ourselves as any lesser than the top global athletes we compete with. Look at the results in the World Championships, we had Neeraj and Kishore Jena finish on the podium. We also had DP Manu enter the final in the same event.”

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Also attending the discussion were 27-time IBSF world champion Pankaj Advani, ace shooter Tejas Krishna Prasad, squash star Joshna Chinnappa, former international athlete and Arjuna awardee Ashwini Nachappa.

On the inclusion of squash at the 2028 Olympics, Joshna said that it has served as a huge motivation. “I think it is very exciting that squash will be in the Olympics, to be honest, it should have been there many years ago.

“It is a motivator for me to really look after my body, choose my tournaments wisely, and train smarter to be able to compete with the young a lot. It is going to be quite an uphill task, but it is there in my mind,” she said.