Neeraj Chopra wins India's first-ever Olympic gold medal in Athletics

On a sultry evening in Tokyo’s National Stadium, Neeraj Chopra’s humongous throw of 87.58m in the final of the men’s javelin throw, won him an Olympic gold.

There are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies and statistics. Neeraj Chopra was the favorite to win the silver medal, behind Johannes Vetter of Germany, who was even tipped to beat the world record throw of 98.48m, currently held by Jan Zelezny.

But what transpired was that Neeraj Chopra won gold while Vetter crashed out. Czech Repbulic's Jakub Vadlejch clinched silver with an enormous 86.67m, while his compatriot Vitezslav Vesely finished third to earn bronze.

Neeraj Chopra was always in the zone – the one that most winning athletes talk about – oblivious to what was happening around, only being focused on the goal. When his first throw went to a massive 87.03m, it was evident that he was the man to beat.

At the end of 6 round, Neeraj Chopra bagged gold with a 87.58m throw. Czech Repbulic's Jakub Vadlejch clinched silver with an enormous 86.67m, while his compatriot Vitezslav Vesely finished third to earn bronze.

Neeraj took the lead early on and never looked back

Neeraj Chopra cleared a massive 87.03m distance in his first attempt at the men's javelin throw finals at the 2021 Olympics on Saturday. He began with an improved score from his qualification round throw of 86.65m.

Neeraj was not ready to stop and built on his impressive start. He improved on his first throw with a 87.58m effort in the second. The Indian athlete knew he had aced it with his second throw - as was suggested by his celebrations and screams after his effort.

It was a disappointing third and fourth attempt from Neeraj. He could only reach a distance of 76.79m followed by a deliberate invalid throw. Nevertheless he maintained his top position.

After the third round, Neeraj Chopra stood at the top with Vitezslav Vesely of Czech Republic in second position with 85.44m. Germany's Julian Weber was placed third with a throw of 85.30m. It was the same three after the fifth round as well. Jakub Vadlejch came in with a brilliant throw and climbed up to the 2nd spot right at the end.

Vetter failed to win gold

Johannes Vetter continued to disappoint in Tokyo. His best throw was a modest 82.52m, recorded on his first attempt. He threw consecutive invalid throws and made a quiet exit from the Tokyo Olympics. The champion javelin thrower will definitely be disappointed by his performance.