History! Record galore for Neeraj Chopra with Gold medal at Tokyo Olympics
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Neeraj Chopra
India’s star athlete Neeraj Chopra has scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics. With a gold medal to his name, it is a record galore for Neeraj Chopra at his maiden Olympic campaign. Chopra produced a stunning 87.58m throw in his second attempt to secure a pole position.
Neeraj started off right on the money with a stunning 87.03m bettering his qualifying throw. The reigning Asian Champion was oozing confidence and it showed in his second throw. Neeraj registered an 87.58m throw to better his first attempt. With it, he finished as the top thrower in the first half of the final.
The ace javelin thrower has now won the gold medal at every international event he has featured in except the World championship and Diamond League. As we celebrate his Olympics medal, let’s take a look at Neeraj Chopra’s records in his short but scintillating career so far.
Record galore for Neeraj Chopra
India’s maiden track and field medal
India’s 121 year-long waits came to an end at the Tokyo Games as Neeraj bagged India’s maiden medal in track and field events. While numerous athletes including the likes of Milkha Singh and PT Usha, put their best foot forward on the big stage, they had failed to clinch the elusive podium finish. But Neeraj has put the wait to rest and that too in some style with a gold medal.
Second Indian to win individual Olympic gold medal
With the gold medal, Neeraj has joined the elite company of Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual gold medalist at the Olympics. The 23-year-old is only the second Indian to achieve the feat. Bindra achieved the feat at the 2008 Beijing Games and 13 years down the lane, a 23-year-old Neeraj joined him at the top.
First Asian to become Olympic javelin throw champion
ever since the inclusion of javelin throw in the Olympic Games, back in 1908, the sport has been dominated by the European powerhouses. After 113 years, an Asian has been able to clinch a medal in the event. Neeraj not only sealed a podium finish but emerged as the Olympic Champion to end the dominance of western nations in the sport.
Neeraj Chopra’s medal cabinet
Neeraj hogged the limelight back in 2016 as he broke the junior world record with a throw of 86.48m to clinch the gold medal at Junior World Championships. Neeraj continued to carry his success with grace as he won the gold medal at the South Asian Games with an 82.23m throw.
The very next year he bettered his throw to 85.23m as he clinched the gold medal at the Asian Championships. Neeraj hasn’t looked back since as he went on to win 10 more medals including five gold medals.
Following his tremendous success, he was bestowed with the honor of being India’s flag bearer at the 2018 Asian Games. Neeraj Chopra returned with a gold medal as he established a new national record with a throw of 88.06m. The very same year the prodigy hailing from Haryana clinched yet another gold medal and it was at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
(1496 Articles Published)