Pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, the reigning Olympic and World Championships gold medallist, hailed Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as a "huge inspiration," remembering him as "same guy, same nice."

Duplantis, who has broken the world record 11 times, also credited Neeraj - who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and silver at the Paris Olympics - for transforming Indian athletics and inspiring the entire country.

“We have interacted quite a bit actually, and also being able to interact with him before the Olympics in Tokyo and after the Olympics too, when he was able to have that big viral moment and inspire the whole country of India, which was super cool,” Duplantis, who has been nominated for Sportsman of the Year at the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards, told PTI during an interview.

Duplantis, meanwhile, won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and successfully defended it at Paris 2024.

“We have interacted quite a bit actually, and also being able to interact with him before the Olympics in Tokyo and after the Olympics too… He was still the same guy, same nice, caring guy as I met years back,” Duplantis told PTI.

“I love what he does, he is a really talented and great athlete, and what he is also doing just for sports in India is a really amazing thing," the Swedish-American pole vaulter added.

Duplantis is hailed as the greatest pole vaulter of all time. He is the current world record holder at 6.27m.

Neeraj, India's lone World Championships and Olympic gold medallist, has cemented his legacy as India’s greatest-ever athlete.

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