Sand Artist Manas Kumar Sahoo Builds Sand Structure for Neeraj Chopra Ahead of Tokyo Olympics Final

One of India’s bright medal contenders in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Neeraj Chopra on Wednesday qualified for the final of the javelin throw event with a stunning first attempt of 86.65m. The 23-year-old left the javelin arena after his first throw, having secured his place in the final quite easily. Ahead of the men’s javelin throw finals on Saturday, sand artist Manas Kumar Sahoo celebrated the youngster’s achievements and wished him good luck by creating a beautiful sand structure of the athlete.

According to Times of India, the popular sand artist used a total of 15 tons of sand to create the 15-ft wide sand structure. Bellow the art, Sahoo wrote, " India Waiting for Gold."

A farmer’s son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana who took up athletics to shed flab, Chopra can script history by winning the elusive medal. Chopra’s throw was the best in the qualification while Germany’s Johannes Vetter was the second best with a throw of 85.64m. The third best throw in the qualification was of Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem with a distance of 85.16m.

Following the qualification, Chopra told PTI, “I am at my first Olympic Games, and I feel very good. In warm-up, my performance wasn’t so good, but then (in the qualifying round) my first throw had a good angle, and was a perfect throw."

He added, “It will be a different feeling (in the finals), since it is my first time in the Olympics. Physically we (all) train hard, and are ready, but I also need to prepare mentally. I will need to focus on the throw, and try to repeat this (performance) with a higher score."

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