Neeraj Chopra on August 7 won a historic gold medal in athletics event at the Tokyo Olympic Games as he topped the men’s javelin throw final. He has become India's first Olympic medalist from athletics in the finals of the men's javelin throw at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Chopra has also joined Abhinav Bindra as India's only second Indian athlete to win a gold medal in an individual event.
Neeraj Chopra lead the score board in the Round 1 at 87.03m. In the Round 2, he scored 87.58m, while in the round 3 he scored 76.69m. Neeraj Chopra's fourth and fifth was foul. In the final round, he threw a 84.24m and secured himself the historic gold.
"Unprecedented win by Neeraj Chopra! Your javelin gold breaks barriers and creates history. You bring home first-ever track and field medal to India in your first Olympics. Your feat will inspire our youth. India is elated! Heartiest congratulations," President Ram Nath Kovind said on Twitter.
Unprecedented win by Neeraj Chopra!Your javelin gold breaks barriers and creates history. You bring home first ever track and field medal to India in your first Olympics. Your feat will inspire our youth. India is elated! Heartiest congratulations!— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 7, 2021
PM Modi also congratulated him and said "History has been scripted at Tokyo!"
"History has been scripted at Tokyo! What @Neeraj_chopra1 has achieved today will be remembered forever. The young Neeraj has done exceptionally well. He played with remarkable passion and showed unparalleled grit. Congratulations to him for winning the Gold," he wrote on Twitter.
History has been scripted at Tokyo! What @Neeraj_chopra1 has achieved today will be remembered forever. The young Neeraj has done exceptionally well. He played with remarkable passion and showed unparalleled grit. Congratulations to him for winning the Gold. #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/2NcGgJvfMS— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2021
Haryana’s Home Minister Anil Vij broke into dance revelling in Chopra’s win, who is a native of Panipat.
#WATCH | Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij breaks into dance as javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, a native of Panipat, wins the first #Gold medal for India at #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/bW2v0B9Gbj— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2021
On August 4, Chopra became the first Indian javelin thrower to enter the finals of the Olympic Games with a stunning throw of 86.65m in his opening attempt that put him on top of the qualification round.
The 23-year-old 'Spear Man' from Haryana's Khandra, a village close to Panipat, topped the qualifying round with an 86.65m throw, 1.01m ahead of the second place and world leader Johannes Vetter.
Chopra's previous best was the 88.06m gold-medal winning throw at the 2018 Asian Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
He was also selected as the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony for India at the 2018 Asian Games, which marked his first Asian Games appearance.
In his earlier career, he was the 2016 World U20 champion and set the world under-20 record of 86.48 m. He is also first Indian athlete to ever win a World title in Track and Field at U-20.
Meanwhile, Czech Republic throwers Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) took the silver and bronze respectively.
The country has now notched its best-ever at the Olympics with the seventh medal. Earlier, the nation had matched its best medal haul at a single Olympic Games after wrestler Bajrang Punia gave India its 6th medal of the campaign, which put it on par with the showing at the 2012 London Olympics.
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