Tokyo: Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra scripted history, winning India's first Olympic gold in athletics in 120 years at the 2020 Olympic Games here at the Olympic Stadium. It was also India's third athletics medal at the Olympics. In the meantime, Neeraj became youngest Indian to win an Olympic gold at 23.
Neeraj won the gold ahead of Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vesely Vitezslav (85.44m) for throwing 87.58 metres which came in his second attempt. He notched 87.03m in the first attempt.
In the 1900 Paris Olympics, Norman Pritchard, who is believed to have represented British India, won two silver in 200m hurdles and 200 sprints, respectively.
Although Pritchard was born in Calcutta, he was an Anglo-Indian. Hence, this is the first time a native Indian athlete won an Olympic medal - a gold - in track and field at the greatest sporting spectacle of the world, the Olympic Games.
Indians have been taking part in the Olympic Games since 1920 when elite Indians led by Dorabji Tata took the initiative to send the Indian contingent to the Olympics for the first time in the Antwerp Games. In that context, this is India's first athletics medal at Olympics in 100 years.
Overall, this is only India's second individual Olympic gold after Abhinav Bindra's 10m Air Rifle shooting gold in 2008 at Beijing Olympics. Bindra was 25 then.
On Saturday, the 23-year-old Neeraj, who is ranked 16th in the World Athletics men's javelin throw ranking, threw 87.03 metres in his first attempt and surpassed his own figure in the second, throwing 87.58m.
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However, his third attempt was below par 76.79m and the fourth one was invalid. In the fifth attempt, the Haryana athlete threw 84.24m. But, his second attempt was enough for him to stay on top of the standings and won the much desired gold medal.
Favourite failed
World No. 1 Vetter Johannes, who was the pre-Olympics favourite for the gold medal, finished ninth for throwing below par 82.52m. He must be very disappointed with his poor performance since, in May this year, he threw the season's best 96.29m at the European Athletic Team Championship.
His compatriot Weber Julian, who is ranked fourth in the world, finished fourth on the standings with a throw of 85.30m.
Gold at below 90 metres
This is, meanwhile, the second time in the 21st century a javelin thrower won the gold throwing below 90m. In the 2012 London Olympics, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago produced a massive upset victory over favourite Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway and Finland’s Tero Pitkämäki.
Walcott won the Olympic gold for throwing 84.58m, which is usually below average mark for elite javelin throwers.
The 2016 World Athletics junior gold medallist, Neeraj threw his personal best, also a national record, of 88.07m in March 2021 at Indian Grand Prix 3 at Patiala. This performance gave a boost to India's hope for the maiden athletics medal at the Olympics post-independence.
Conquering the odds
After recovering from elbow surgery in 2019, which kept him away from the track for almost a year, Neeraj Chopra, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist, confirmed his Tokyo berth with a throw of 87.86m at the 2020 ACNE League meeting at Potchefstroom, South Africa.
But once again he was forced to deal with uncertainties as the raging pandemic prevented him from training and competing.
In June 2021, just a month and a half before Tokyo 2020, Neeraj Chopra, a Subedar in the Indian Army, was back on track in Europe after almost 18 months break. A combined effort by JSW Sports, the sports promoter who manages Neeraj, AFI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ensured the javelin thrower going to Europe for final training and competitions before flying to Tokyo.
His chances of winning an Olympic medal gained strong ground just a month before the kick-off of the postponed Tokyo Olympics, after defending champion, Germany’s Thomas Roehler, pulled out of the Games citing a back injury and 2019 World Championships silver medallist Estonia’s Magnus Kirt confirmed that he would not take part in the Games due to a leg injury.
Though Chopra had been a little patchy in three events he participated in Europe registering a best throw of 86:79m at Kuortane Games, there was a positive sign in his preparation in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.
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For Neeraj, who opted for Uppsala, Sweden as his training centre after finding no slot at Kuortane, the Europe tour had come as a welcome opportunity to get his rhythm back and break the rustiness after spending months at NIS Patiala without training due to the pandemic related restrictions.
However, his decision not to compete in the London Diamond League in June-July paid off significantly. Since he had returned to the track after a long time, Neeraj wanted to preserve his energy and stay injury-free to give his best in Tokyo.
Coming into Tokyo 2020, he showed why he was right in his judgement. First, the Indian qualified for the Tokyo 2020 final in his first attempt with a throw of 86.65m and then, two days later, he upset the higher-ranked athletes of Europe when it mattered the most.
Now, on Saturday, the gold medal in men's javelin throw has fittingly come as Neeraj Chopra's best reward for all the hard work and dedication he put in in the last five years in order to culminate in the sport at the Tokyo Olympics. And eventually, with this gold, he lifted the morale of 1.4 billion Indians.
— By Sudipta Biswas
