Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra scripted history by becoming the first Indian in over 100 years to win an Olympic medal in athletics, when he won the gold in men’s javelin throw in Tokyo, today.
Chopra threw a blistering 87.58m in his second attempt to clinch a sensational gold medal in the high-profile event. The Czech Republic duo of Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely won the silver and bronze with top throws of 86.67m and 85.44m respectively.
A pre-tournament medal contender, the 23-year-old Chopra fuelled country's expectations by topping the qualification round with a stunning first round throw of 86.59m.
Three track and field athletes were part of the five-member Indian team at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium - the other two being wrestlers. Since then, no Indian has won a medal in athletics.
The International Olympic Committee still credits Norman Pritchard's 200m and 200m hurdles silver medals in the 1900 Paris Olympics to India though various research, including the records of then IAAF (now World Athletics), showed that he had competed for Great Britain.
A farmer's son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana who took up athletics to shed flab, Chopra scripted history by winning the elusive medal, which the likes of late Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha let it slip from their grasp in 1964 and 1984 editions.
The youngster came into the Olympics with the fourth best throw (88.07m) this year.
Chopra's performance in the qualification round was one of the best performances by an Indian in the Olympics, as he finished ahead of gold medal favourite and 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany.
Vetter, who had earlier said that Chopra will find it tough to beat him in the Olympics but had himself crossed the automatic qualification mark with a 85.64m final throw in the third attempt, was eliminated after the first round of throws. The 28-year-old towering German came into the Olympics after having seven monster throws of over 90m between April and June.
