Hopefully, he’ll be watching this from the heavens: Neeraj Chopra dedicates Tokyo gold to Milkha Singh

Milkha
Singh
passed
away
on
June
18,
earlier
this
year,
in
Chandigarh
after
losing
the
battle
against
Covid-19.
Singh
came
agonisingly
close
to
winning
an
Olympic
medal
for
India
in
the
1960
Games
when
he
finished
4th
in
the
final
of
men’s
400m.
The
‘Flying
Sikh’ always
wanted
to
see
an
Indian
finish
the
podium
at
the
grandest
stage
on
the
planet
but
passed
away
little
more
than
a
month
before
the
Tokyo
Games
began.

History
has
been
scripted:
PM
Modi
hails
Neeraj
Chopra’s
javelin
throw
gold
at
Tokyo
Olympics

“I
dedicate
this
medal
to
Milkha
Singh.
Hopefully,
he’ll
be
watching
this
from
the
heavens,”
Neeraj
told
the
Indian
media
in
Tokyo
after
the
victory
ceremony
at
the
Olympic
Stadium.

“Milkha
Singh
ji
passed
away
and
I
felt
very
bad.
I
wanted
to
meet
him
with
an
Olympic
medal.
It
is
sad
that
he’s
not
among
us
but
I
hope
he’s
seeing
us
from
above
and
is
happy
with
this
(medal)
that
his
dream
has
come
true.
Even
other
athletes
like
PT
Usha
and
others
who
missed
out
on
a
medal
by
centimetres
–
I
hope
they’re
all
happy,”
Chopra
added
further.

Like
Milkha
Singh,
Neeraj
too
is
employed
with
the
Indian
Army.
Neeraj
serves
as
Naib
Subedar
in
the
Indian
Army.

Late
Milkha
Singh’s
son
Jeev
Milkha
tweeted
an
emotional
post
on
his
Twitter
handle
and
said
his
father’s
dream
of
an
Indian
winning
an
Olympic
medal
finally
came
true.

“What
a
show
@Neeraj_chopra1!
Dad
waited
so
many
years
for
this
to
happen.
His
dream
has
finally
come
true
with
India’s
first
athletic
gold.
I
am
crying
as
I
tweet
this.
And
I
am
sure
dad
is
crying
up
above.
Thank
you
for
making
this
happen,”
tweeted
Jeev
Milkha
–
who
is
a
professional
golfer.

What
a
show

@Neeraj_chopra1!
Dad
waited
so
many
years
for
this
to
happen.
His
dream
has
finally
come
true
with
India’s
first
athletic
gold.

I
am
crying
as
I
tweet
this.
And
I
am
sure
dad
is
crying
up
above.

Thank
you
for
making
this
happen.#Olympicsindia
#Cheers4India

—
Jeev
Milkha
Singh
(@JeevMilkhaSingh)

August
7,
2021

Explained:
How
did
Neeraj
Chopra
win
the
Javelin
Throw
gold
in
Tokyo
Olympics

Reacting
to
the
gold
medal
Neeraj
claimed
he
was
unsure
of
a
top
podium
finish
despite
a
remarkably
confident
performance.
Chopra
had
topped
the
qualification
three
days
ago
and
did
better
than
that
in
the
finals
as
he
produced
a
best
throw
of
87.58m
to
become
only
the
second
Indian
to
win
individual
gold
in
Olympics.

Tokyo
Olympics:
Welcome
to
the
club!
Bindra,
India’s
first
individual
gold
medallist
writes
to
Neeraj
Chopra

“It
feels
unbelievable.
It
is
the
first
time
India
has
won
gold
in
athletics,
so
I
feel
very
good.
We
have
just
one
gold
here
in
other
sports,”
the
23-year-old
said
after
winning
the
historic
gold.

“This
is
our
first
Olympic
medal
for
a
very
long
time,
and
in
athletics,
it
is
the
first
time
we
have
gold,
so
it’s
a
proud
moment
for
me
and
my
country,”
the
golden
boy
from
India
added
further.

Tokyo
Olympics:
Neeraj
Chopra
wins
Gold
medal
in
Javelin
Throw
–
full
list
of
his
achievements

Just
like
in
the
qualification
round,
Chopra
began
with
a
bang
by
sending
the
spear
to
a
distance
of
87.03m
and
then
improved
it
to
87.58m,
his
best
of
the
day
which
none
in
the
field
could
match.

His
third
throw
was
a
poor
76.76m,
he
then
fouled
his
next
two
attempts
before
a
final
effort
of
84.24m.
By
the
time
the
Nordic
javelin
left
his
right
hand
in
his
second
attempt,
he
knew
that
it
was
going
the
farthest
among
all
and
he
raised
both
his
arms
in
jubilation,
confident
that
the
job
had
been
done.

Javelin
thrower
Neeraj
Chopra
creates
history,
wins
first-ever
athletics
gold
for
India
in
Olympics

Season
leader
and
pre-tournament
gold
favourite
Johannes
Vetter
of
Germany,
who
had
thrown
the
spear
to
90m
plus
distances
seven
times
between
April
and
June,
was
shockingly
eliminated
after
the
first
three
throws
as
he
was
placed
ninth
with
a
best
effort
of
82.52m.

(With
PTI
inputs)