With his Olympic Gold Medal in Javelin Throw, Neeraj Chopra becomes the first Indian athlete to win an Olympic medal and the second Indian athlete to win an individual gold medal
Finals of the men's javelin throw by Neeraj Chopra Olympic Games in Tokyo Highlights: On Saturday evening, Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The Indian attained the feat after defeating world number one Johannes Vetter in the men's javelin throw finals. In addition, this was India's first Olympic medal in athletics.
Neeraj got things started with a huge 87.03m and then aced it on the second attempt with an even bigger 87.58m. However, the Indians' third and fourth attempts were both unsuccessful. In his fifth and final try, Neeraj hurled 84.24 yards.
Neeraj's opening 87.03m was enough to win the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, as none of the other twelve competitors broke the 87.03m barrier.
Jakub Vadlejch and Vtzslav Vesel of the Czech Republic won silver and bronze, respectively. Vadlejch's best throw of 86.67m, good for silver, came in his fifth attempt. Vesel came in third with an 85.44m throw.
With a massive 86.65m throw, Neeraj qualified for the finals and also won the qualifying round.
Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway holds the Olympic record with a jump of 90.57 meters, which he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. While Jan elezn of the Czech Republic holds the world mark, which he set in 1996, with a distance of 98.48m.
Highlights from the men's javelin finals at the Tokyo Olympics can be seen here:
Andrian Mardare of Moldova began the competition by throwing 81.16 meters in his first try. Neeraj also got off to a good start in the competition, throwing 87.03 meters in his first attempt, which was also better than his qualifying round performance.
After a first-round throw of 85.30 meters, German javelin thrower Julian Weber came the closest to the Indian, while Vetter threw 82.52 meters. Nadeem of Pakistan, who shared the podium with Chopra, had a terrible run-up but still managed to break the 82.40m barrier in his first attempt.
Neeraj finished first in the first round and then went on to surpass his previous mark with an 87.58m mark in his second attempt. From the time he released the javelin and raised his hands in excitement, the Indian knew. The gold medal was subsequently won by Neeraj as a result of this throw.
In his second and third attempts, Neeraj's biggest foe Vetter slid on the track. Pakistan's Nadeem had the same fate, and Weber, who finished second to the Indian, threw 77.9 meters on his second attempt.
Neeraj missed his third attempt and only managed 76.79m, but he was still in first place thanks to his second-round attempt. Meanwhile, Vtzslav Vesel of the Crezh Republic, who started the competition with throws of 79.73m and 80.30m, vaulted to second place with an 85.44m throw in the third round.
As it stood, Neeraj took the lead with an 87.58m throw in the second try, followed by Vesel in second place. Weber took third place with a time of 85.30 meters, which he achieved on his first attempt.
Vetter, Neeraj's biggest threat and the world number one, failed to advance to the following round after three attempts. After three attempts, the German ended eighth, effectively eliminating him from contention. In his first effort, Vetter ran 82.52 meters, but in his following two attempts, he was fouled.
After both Neeraj and second-placed Vesel committed fouls in the fourth try, their throws were not counted.
Then, in the fifth round, Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch made a superb attempt to knock off his countryman Vesel, jumping to second place. In the sixth round, Vadlejch had thrown 86.67 meters.
