Neeraj Chopra, the 23-year-old athlete from Panipat Haryana etched his names in the history book with golden letters on August 7, 2021 as he clinched the gold medal at men’s javelin throw event with a throw of 87.58 metres.
Chopra has also become only the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics. Chopra now holds gold medals in javelin throw at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and now the Olympics, all at the same time.
Chopra seized the lead in the final with a throw of 87.03 on his first attempt. The gold medal winning throw of 87.58 came in his second attempt. Then threw 76.79m in his third. He fouled on his fourth and fifth and finished it off with a 84.24m throw in his sixth attempt.
Here’s a list of top 10 throws of his career:
DATE EVENT RESULT(m)
- 27 AUG 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, Jakarta 88.06
- 05 MAR 2021 Indian Grand Prix 3, Patiala 88.07
- 28 JAN 2020 ACNW League Meeting 1, Potchefstroom 87.86
- 17 MAR 2021 Federation Cup, Patiala 87.80
- 07 AUG 2021 2020 Olympics, Tokyo 87.58
- 04 MAY 2018 Doha IAAF Diamond League, Doha 87.43
- 26 JUN 2021 Kuortane Games, Kuortane 86.79
- 04 AUG 2021 2020 Olympic Games, Tokyo 86.65
- 23 JUL 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships, Bydgoszcz 86.48
- 14 APR 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 86.47
The International Olympic Committee still credits Norman Pritchard’s 200m and 200m hurdles silver medals in the 1900 Paris Olympics to India though various researches, including the records of then IAAF (now World Athletics), showed that he had competed for Great Britain. Pritchard was not an Indian and the country’s first Olympic participation under a national Olympic body was in 1920.
Tokyo 2020 Full Coverage: Schedule | Results | Medals Tally
Since then, track and field athletes have been an integral part of Indian contingents in almost all the editions of the Games.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here