Neeraj Chopra bags Gold for India in the Javelin Throw event at the Tokyo Olympics!

Neeraj Chopra has now stamped his legacy in the Olympics history going down as the first-ever individual Gold medalist in the track and field category for Team India. 

The 23-year-old javelin thrower from India made a mark in the Tokyo Olympics when he easily cleared the group stage of the men's javelin throw as soon as the event started and topped the group with just 1 attempt. 

We saw Neeraj Chopra of Team India becoming the champion of the men’s javelin throw final event in the Tokyo Olympics 2021. 

This would be India's first Gold medal at the Olympics in 13 years since Abhinav Bindra won gold medal in the 10m rifle shooting event for India at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Javelin Throw Event: How it went down

Neeraj Chopra already topped the leader board as he launched an 87.03m throw in the first attempt. It was a dream start as this would end up being the 2nd best score in the event. 

After the first round, the only people who seemed close to Neeraj were Germany’s Vetter and Czech Republic’s veteran, Vesely. 

In his second attempt, Neeraj Chopra neared his personal best and had even a better score landing a successful 87.58m throw. 

This throw by Neeraj Chopra would be a mark in history going down as the score which would see India earn its first-ever Olympic Gold medal in the track and field category. 

The competition was on until the final round as Czech Republic’s Vadlejch managed to come extremely close to Neeraj, landing a successful 86.67m in his 2nd last attempt. 

Huge Upset for Germany

The biggest upset of the event was Vetter not even qualifying for the final round. The German was unarguably the favorite to win this event and many didn’t even consider the others as a contender to win the Gold. 

The reasons were valid for people to believe as his personal best is 97.76m and his season-best is recorded at 96.29m. 

He is ranked number 1 in the world, and by a margin. It was quite an upset when Germany’s Vetter failed to even qualify for the final few rounds as he landed a best of 82.52m which would see him walk out of the event immediately.

The Final Competition

The rest of the people in the top 4, apart from Neeraj, landed their season-best score. Vetter came close twice as he had a best of 85.30m, just 0.14m short of an Olympic medal. 

Sportco congratulates Neeraj Chopra for completing such a massive feat and wish him luck for more Gold Medals and Championships for India in the coming years.