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

Neeraj Chopra covered a distance of 87.03M in his first attempt itself that placed him far beyond any of his rivals. In fact, there was a lot of hopes were placed on 23-year-old Neeraj, the Haryana javelin thrower, in the run-up to the Tokyo Games.

His second throw measured a monstrous 87.58M, widening the gap between him and his rivals. Neeraj was expected to get stretched by German duo of Julian Webber and Johannes Vetter but they were not up to the scratch on the day. In fact, Vetter seemed to be getting troubled by his ankle, and even committed a foul and eventually did not find a place in the final 8.

Jakub Vadlejch, another favourite, threw a distance of 83.98M, but not enough take the glory day away from the Indian. The Czech Republic duo of Vadlejch (86.67M) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44) took silver and bronze medals. This was also India’s second gold medal in Olympics after Abhinav Bindra’s gold in Beijing Olympics 2008 in shooting.

A farmer’s son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana who took up athletics to shed flab, Neeraj scripted history by winning the elusive medal, which the likes of late Milkha Singh and P T Usha let it slip from their grasp.

Now, India no longer have to shed tears on those lost chances as Neeraj atoned for all the past failures and near-misses at Tokyo.

“I am at my first Olympic Games, and I feel very good. In warm-up my performance wasn’t so good, but then (in the qualifying round) my first throw had a good angle, and was a perfect throw,” Neeraj said.

“I will need to focus on the throw, and try to repeat this (performance) with a higher score,” he had said. And how precisely he did that.

Earlier, sportspersons from across the spectrum came to the backing of Neeraj, including India women’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. She has rallied behind the javelin thrower, saying Neeraj is a perfect combination of strength and technique.

“Whether it’s hitting a six for 90m or throwing javelin for 90m, it requires technique and strength. One such combination of technique and strength is Neeraj Chopra. I, Harmanpreet Kaur, am cheering for Neeraj Chopra. Let’s cheer for India,” said Harmanpreet in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of BCCI.

Neeraj Chopra had progressed for the men’s final here at the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday after attaining an automatic qualification in the Men’s Long Throws Qualification — Group A.

Neeraj started the javelin qualification in 15th position in the group A, and he threw a monstrous throw of 86.65m and automatically qualified for the final after just his first attempt.

Finland’s Lassi Etelatalo was another thrower who automatically qualified in the first attempt. Earlier on Tuesday, another Indian Javelin thrower Annu Rani failed to qualify for the women’s final here at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday after an underwhelming show in the Women’s Long Throws Qualification — Group A.

All those backing, praying did not go in vain as Neeraj marched to the podium with elan.