Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal for India in the javelin throw event of the Paris Olympics. 26-year-old Neeraj threw the javelin 89.45 meters and secured second place. With this, Neeraj became only the third Indian player to win a medal in two consecutive Olympics. Before Neeraj, wrestler Sushil Kumar and shuttler PV Sindhu had won medals in two consecutive Olympics.
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal in javelin throw with a new Olympic record. He threw the javelin 92.97 meters away. Arshad had 2 throws of more than 90 meters. Grenada's Anderson Peters won the bronze medal by throwing the javelin 88.54 meters away.
On Neeraj's achievement, PM Narendra Modi said- 'Neeraj is an example of excellence. He has shown his talent time and again.' Neeraj's mother said- 'For us, silver is like gold, the one who won gold is also my son.' Father said- 'There was trouble due to injury, Neeraj's medal is dedicated to Vinesh's spirit.'
Now all eyes are on Neeraj's journey to the Olympics...
Neeraj started javelin throw at the age of 12
in 2010. Akshay Chaudhary became Neeraj's first coach at SAI Panipat. Akshay was very impressed that Neeraj could throw the javelin 40 meters at such a young age without any training. Chaudhary trained Neeraj for about 1 year. After this he moved to Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex Panchkula.
Naseem Ahmed coached Neeraj in Panchkula. He trained Neeraj in javelin as well as long distance running so that he could develop more stamina and endurance.
In Panchkula, Neeraj started watching videos of three-time Olympic champion Jan Zeleny of Czechoslovakia. He also copied his style. Earlier, he used to regularly throw 55 meters. After this, he increased it by more than 10 meters. In 2012, Neeraj won gold in Lucknow with a throw of 68.40 meters.
Neeraj won his first international medal in 2014.
Neeraj's international career started in 2013. Then he participated in the World Youth Championship in Ukraine. He won his first international medal in the Youth Olympic Qualification held in Bangkok in 2014. Then he won silver. In the 2014 Senior National, Neeraj crossed the 70 meter mark for the first time.
In 2015, Neeraj threw above 80 meters for the first time. He threw 81.04 meters. This was a world record throw in the junior category. In 2016, Neeraj was included in the senior camp in Panchkula.
At the age of 20, he beat the Olympic medalist.
It was 14 August 2016. Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold with a throw of 86.48 meters in the Under-20 World Athletics Championship in Poland. The special thing is that the Rio Olympics were going on at the same time and the athlete who won bronze in men's javelin throw there had a best throw less than 86.48. In Rio, Keyshorn Walcott of Trinidad won the bronze medal by throwing 85.38 meters.
Created history by winning gold on Olympic debut
After excellent performance in junior and senior circuit, Neeraj qualified for Tokyo Olympics. In the very first Olympics, he threw a javelin throw of 87.58 meters and won the gold medal. He won silver in the 2022 World Final and gold in 2023. During this time, in the Stockholm Diamond League, he threw 89.94 meters and made a national record, this was also Neeraj's personal best.
India's Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem have been facing each other at the junior level since 2016. Both have a deep friendship since then. In the 2016 South Asian Games, Neeraj finished first and Nadeem third. Till the Tokyo Olympics, both of
them clashed 7 times, Neeraj won every time. Nadeem finished 5th in Tokyo.
Before the Paris Olympics, both of them faced each other twice in the World Athletics Championships. In 2022, Neeraj finished second and Nadeem fifth. In 2023, Nadeem came close and finished second, but here too Neeraj won and secured the first position.
In the Paris Olympics, the first attempt of both Nadeem and Neeraj was a foul. In the second attempt, Nadeem broke the Olympic record and confirmed the medal by throwing the javelin 92.97 meters away. Neeraj covered a distance of 89.45 meters in his second attempt and secured the second position. After this, all the throws of Neeraj were fouls.
Nadeem was defeated 9 times, the tables turned for the 10th time
Nadeem also broke the record with his last throw and covered a distance of 91.79 meters. After losing to Neeraj Chopra 9 times in a row, Arshad Nadeem leveled the score in the biggest event and also gave Pakistan its first individual gold medal along with an Olympic record. Arshad is currently 27 and Neeraj is 26 years old, which means a clash between the two can also be seen in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Neeraj said- Arshad performed better
Neeraj Chopra said after the final, "I have been competing with Arshad since 2016, but I lost to him for the first time. But I think he performed better and he should be praised for this. Arshad worked very hard to reach this point, he performed better in the final. Congratulations to him."
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