Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has been hailed by his Pakistani counterpart Arshad Nadeem for winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Pakistani athlete, who finished fifth with a best throw of 84.62m, took to Twitter to congratulate Chopra. “Congratulations #NeerajChopra!!!” he tweeted.
The 23-year-old athlete from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana ended India's 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics on August 7.
Chopra came into the final as a medal contender after topping the qualification round on August 4 with a stunning first round throw of 86.59m. But few would have thought that he would bludgeon his way to gold in such a dominant fashion at the grandest stage.
In Pics| Gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra in action at Tokyo Olympics 2020
Just like in the qualification round three days back, Chopra began 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.
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He became only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics out-performing the field by some distance to immortalise himself as the first track-and-field Games medal-winner for the country.
Czech Republic throwers Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) took the silver and bronze respectively.
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