Watch: Neeraj Chopra’s Throw That Gave India Its First Olympic Gold In Athletics

Having topped the qualification stage, Neeraj Chopra put in an impressive performance on Saturday to win India’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics. The 23-year-old sealed a first-place finish in the men’s javelin throw event at the ongoing Tokyo Games with a best attempt of 87.58m. Neeraj registered his best attempt in his second throw, which was enough to help him finish at the top of the podium ahead of Czech Republic duo Jakub Vadlejch (silver) and Vitezslav Vesely (bronze). India’s official Twitter handle for Tokyo Olympics shared the video of Neeraj’s stunning throw.

Check out Neeraj’s gold-winning throw here:

THE THROW THAT WON #IND A #GOLD MEDAL #Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/F6xr6yFe8J

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 7, 2021

The Haryana native put himself at the top of the standings with his first throw (87.03) itself. He registered a throw of 87.58m in his second attempt, followed by 76.79. His fourth and fifth attempts were foul throws.

The Indian athlete ended the final with a throw of 84.24m.

The biggest shock in the men’s javelin throw final was the performance of Germany’s Johannes Vetter. Favourite to win gold, the German was knocked out of contention after his three throws weren’t enough to find him a place in the top eight.

The other athletes to finish in the top-eight of the javelin throw final were Julian Weber (Germany), Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan), Aliaksei Katkavets (Belarus), Andrian Mardare (Republic of Moldova) and Lassi Etelatalo (Finland).

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Neeraj Chopra helped India win its second gold medal at the Olympics. Shooter Abhinav Bindra had won the country’s first Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Neeraj’s achievement also takes India’s Tokyo Games medal tally to seven; the country’s highest-ever, edging past the six won at the 2012 London Games.