Neeraj Chopra ended India’s century-long wait for a medal in athletics and clinched a historic gold medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a best throw of 87.58m. Neeraj started the event with a brilliant throw of 87.03m. He bettered it in the second attempt and covered a distance of 87.58m. Neeraj’s throw distance dropped to 76.79m in the 3rd attempt.

His heroics in the 2nd throw was enough to win him a medal as none of the other javelin throwers could touch the 87m mark. Neeraj is now only the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win a gold medal in the singles event in Olympics. PV Sindhu came close to joining Bindra on the elite list in Rio Olympics but fell short.

One of the strongest medal contenders, Neeraj had made it to the final by covering a distance of 86.59m in the qualifying round. Following him on the list were Germany’s Johannes Vetter (85.64 m) and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (85.16 m). Vetter, the strongest contender to win the gold, was eliminated earlier.

Neeraj’s medal win in Tokyo has increased India’s medal count in the ongoing event to 7. Wrestler Bajrang Punia had won India’s 6th medal an hour back.

Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely won the silver and bronze medal respectively. Vadlejch came up with the best throw of 86.67m while Vesely covered a distance of 85.44m with his best throw.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem came up with the best throw of 84.62m. Vetter could manage a best throw of 82.52m.

India’s medal winners in Tokyo Olympics

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win marked an end to India’s run in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Silver-medal winner Mirabai Chanu had won the first medal for the country. Shuttler PV Sindhu, Boxer Lovlina Borgohain, Indian men’s hockey team and wrestler Bajrang Punia won bronze medals. Wrestler Ravi Dahiya won the silver medal.