India's Neeraj Chopra has created history winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics men's javelin throw finals.
Chopra has become the first Indian to ever win a gold medal in athletics. The Indian 'Spear Man' who kicked off the attempts hitting 87.03m distance, and then reached the 87.58m mark.
Chopra winning a medal itself is a huge achievement for India as it has never won a medal in athletics. This was India's first-ever medal in athletics in the history of the Olympic games.
Chopra's gold medal for India has left every Indian teary-eyed. The Indian achieved the feat in the men's javelin throw finals defeating world number one Johannes Vetter. Neeraj's opening score of 87.03m was good enough to secure him the bronze at the ongoing Olympics in Tokyo as none of the participants could touch his mark.
Neeraj had qualified for the men's javelin throw finals with a 86.65m throw, which made him the topper in the qualifying round of the event. However, Chopra is yet to break the Olympic record of Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen, at 90.57m in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic and Vítězslav Veselý bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively. Vadlejch's best throw was in his fifth attempt when he touched 86.67m, earning him the silver medal while Veselý threw a bronze medal-winning score of 85.44m at the javelin throw men's finals.
Here's How Neeraj Chopra secured a Gold Media [video]
Who is Neeraj Chopra?
India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra is a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army. During an interaction with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Neeraj Chopra said: "I always wanted to serve in the Indian Army. I played for five to six years and then got an opportunity to join in my dream job. I was very happy and since then I started focussing on my game."
"We have a career for only a few years and we need to motivate ourselves. Due to my injury, couldn't do well in the World championship but I continued to work hard for the Olympics," Neeraj Chopra said.
