Neeraj Chopra won India's first Olympic medal in athletics with a massive throw of 87.58m in the javelin throw final, thereby becoming the country's second individual Olympic gold medalist.
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Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra has scripted history after leading the nation on to a historic gold medal in Javelin. Neeraj delivered a fantastic performance in the final of the men’s javelin throw event of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, earning the nation a maiden medal in the sport as well as the track and field category. The 23-year-old has further become the second Indian to win an individual gold medal in the history of the Olympics. Shooter Abhinav Bindra was the first athlete, following his heroics in the 2008 Bejing Olympics. Neeraj’s heroics have helped India record their best ever performance in the history of the prestigious tournament.
The 23-year-old was awarded the gold medal after recording a sensational throw of 87.58m. Jakub Vadlejch from Czech Republic won the silver, following a throw of 86.67m. Vitezslav Vesely, an athlete from the same nation as of Jakub, was awarded the bronze after recording a throw of 85.44m.
Neeraj started off proceedings with a sensational throw, having been second on the start list. The 23-year-old’s throw of 87.03m, was longer than every finalist barring Johannes Vetter this season. However, Vetter failed to register a fine attempt, handing the Indian a significant advantage. Neeraj followed up his opening throw with an outstanding effort of 87.58m which ultimately emerged as the winning throw. The second throw was a disaster for almost every athlete barring the Indian, with Vetter among those who slipped with the javelin going out of bounds.
While Neeraj could not emulate his heroics from the second throw in the remaining attempts, Vetter failed to make it to the final eight. This handed the Indian a massive boost, which ultimately proved just enough.
Neeraj qualified for the final of the men’s javelin throw event after his first attempt. The 23-year-old who was placed in Group A of the qualifiers made the final with a massive throw of 86.65m. It is worth noting that the qualifying mark is 83m. Thus, he passed the qualifying mark by a good 3m. The first throw being enough to secure qualification, he thus did not attempt a second and third throw after that. In fact, he left the stadium with his coaches right after the first round itself.
This was Neeraj’s first appearance at the Olympics and it is safe to say he nailed it. The 23-year-old further became the first Indian to make it to the final of the javelin throw event.
German Johannes Vetter had stated before the Olympics that Neeraj will find it difficult to get the better of him. Vetter had breached the 90-metre mark seven times this year alone. The 2017 World Championships gold medallist was eager to make his mark in the premier event. Chopra on the other hand, bettered his personal best to 88.07m this year and set a new national record at the third Indian Grand Prix in March.
“He (Chopra) threw good throws twice this year. Above 86m in Finland (86.79m at the Kuortane Games). If he is healthy and if he is in the right shape, especially in his technique, he can throw far,” said Vetter in a media interaction organised by World Athletics.
“But he has to fight with me. I am looking to throw over 90m in Tokyo, so it will be tough for him to beat me. We spoke a lot about javelin, family and other things. I am always interested in our cultures, our nations, how sport is going on in different countries and so on,” he added.
