The man with Golden Arm Neeraj Chopra creates history, wins gold in the Javelin throw at Tokyo Olympics
New Delhi: Neeraj Chopra on Saturday became only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics, out-performing the field by quite a distance to notch up the first track-and-field Games medal for the country.
The 23-year-old farmer’s son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana produced the second throw of 87.58m in the finals to stun the athletics world and end India’s 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics.
Chopra won the country’s seventh medal and first gold in this Olympics and joined shooter Abhinav Bindra (2008 Beijing Games) as India’s individual gold winners in the showpiece. With this, the country surpassed the previous best haul of six medals achieved in the 2012 London Games. Neeraj Chopra will be taking the flag for India at the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony.
According to a media report, Chopra scripted history on Saturday by becoming independent India’s first athlete to win a medal in the track and field discipline. English-Indian athlete Norman Pritchard had won two silver medals in the 1900 Games while representing India, which was then a British colony.
In the 1900 Paris Olympics, Norman Pritchard won silver medals in the 200m and the 200m hurdles. Both India and Great Britain claim Pritchard’s medal. Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch won silver with 86.67, while his countryman Vitezslav Vesely won bronze with 85.44.
