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Olympics 2022

Tokyo Olympics: Neeraj Chopra wins gold, ends 100 yr wait for medal in athletics

After a long hiatus of over 100 years, India finally had a medal in athletics as Neeraj Chopra registered his name in record books by claiming gold in Javelin throw event of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

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Sky247 Staff
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Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra ( Image Credit: Twitter)

After a long hiatus of over 100 years, India finally has a medal in athletics as Neeraj Chopra registered his name in record books by claiming gold in the Javelin throw event of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj started the event with a throw of 87.03m before  throwing 87.58 in the second attempt. The final throw went only 76.79m but ensured gold for India.

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This is India’s seventh medal in Tokyo Olympics. Earlier today, wrestler Bajrang Punia won bronze in 65 KG Men’s Freestyle Wrestling. Neeraj topped the qualifying round by covering a distance of 86.59. Following him on the list were Germany's Johannes Vetter (85.64 m) and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem (85.16 m).

Neeraj joined Abhinav Bindra in the list of Indians who had won gold for India. Chopra, a track and field athlete and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army, had won a gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast Australia. This was Neeraj's third gold in a major event.

While Neeraj got the podium finish, Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic, who recorded a distance of 86.67 meters, bagged a silver. The bronze was won by Vítězslav Veselý from the Czech Republic, who finished with a distance of 85.44 meters. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem finished fifth with a distance of 84.62 meters.

Meanwhile, the cricket fraternity too lauded the historic achievement of the Indian.

India Tokyo Olympics