Kochi: Indian javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra created history on Saturday by winning gold in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Neeraj entered record books to be the first Indian to win the medal for Independent India in athletics. Neeraj became second Indian to win gold in the individual event in Olympics after Abhinav Bindra who had won the first gold in shooting in 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Hailing from a joint family living in a village named Khandra near Panipat, the 23-year-old lad produced a second round throw of 87.58m cherishing India’s dream of winning gold.
This was lesser compared to his best of 88.07m recorded this March. The silver went to Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and bronze to Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m). Both of them are athletes representing Czech Republic.
Chopra came into the final after topping the qualification round on Wednesday with a throw of 86.59m. A 90m plus thrower, Johannes Vetter of Germany, was eliminated after the first three throws with a best effort of 82.52m. Legendary Indian runner Milkha Singh came close to win an Olympic medal in the 1960 Games finishing 4th in the final of men’s 400m. Later, P T Usha had come close to winning a bronze in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. However, she lost in photo finish.
Since then, track and field athletes have been an integral part of Indian contingents in almost all the editions of the Games. A bulky child in his childhood, his friends used to make fun of him for his overweight. It all started from here and he started working hard to reduce his weight. And Javelin came in handy for him as it was an inexpensive event.
“History scripted at Tokyo! What Neeraj Chopra has achieved today will be remembered forever. Neeraj Chopra played with remarkable passion, showed unparalleled grit,” Modi added.
