Neeraj Chopra won the men’s javelin championship with the best throw of 87.58 meters on Saturday, setting the first in history Olympic Athletics gold medal for India.
Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic won the silver medal with 86.67 meters and Vitezslav Vesely won the bronze medal with 85.44 meters.
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The 2018 Commonwealth Champion Chopra led by 87.03 in his first attempt, a distance that no other player reached in the final. When his ecstatic teammates and coaches watched from the stands, he Won the first gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in India.
In the case of guaranteed medals, Wadelech and Veseli tried to get on the podium in the last pitch, but both fouled.
“It feels unbelievable,” Chopra said. “This is our first Olympic medal in a long time. In track and field, this is the first time we have won a gold medal. So this is a proud moment for me and my country.”
Chopra, with his best throwing score of 86.65 in his qualifying round, knew that his game was on the right track this week, but never thought that the gold medal was a certainty.
“In the qualifiers, I voted very well, so I knew I could do better in the finals. I didn’t know it would be gold, but I was very happy,” he said.
Chopra became the second Indian to win an Olympic individual gold medal after Abhinav Bindra won the 10-meter air rifle at the 2008 Olympics.
Bindra wrote on Twitter: “Your performance has further improved what was obvious throughout the Olympic Games-our athletes are not only able to fight side by side with the best players, but also firmly establish themselves as the most popular candidates. .”
“Our first individual gold medal may take more than a century, but the time it takes you to take the second one home is relatively small, which fully shows that we are rising as a sports country.”
Chopra’s victory caused celebration among his countrymen-including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“History was written in Tokyo!” Modi wrote on Twitter. “The young Nilaji did a great job. He played with extraordinary enthusiasm and showed unparalleled courage.”
That night, German player Johannes Vetter was disappointed. He was his favorite on the podium because he was the only player in the final to throw more than 90 meters. He ranked ninth with 82.52.
Reported by Amy Tennery in Tokyo, edited by Mitch Phillips, Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon
