The Legend Of Neeraj Chopra: From a random athlete, to becoming India's poster boy and golden boy of sports, Neeraj Chopra has come a long way to become one of the greatest athletes ever produced by the land of India. Neeraj Chopra is one of the most decorated athletes in the history of sports, and reached the pinnacle of his career duing the Tokyo Olympics 2020, when he bagged the gold medal in the Men's Javelin Throw event, which resulted in India's first-ever individual Olympic gold medal in Track & Field events.
Neeraj Chopra's post on his official 'X' account after his historic victory:
Neeraj Chopra's Tokyo 2020 Gold Medal Journey — Here's How It Happened
Neeraj eased past his way through the qualification stage and in the final, he competed for the elusive gold medal against the following competitors:
- Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic)
- Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Republic)
- Julian Weber (Germany)
- Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan)
- Aliaksei Katkavets (Belarus)
- Andrian Mardare (Republic of Moldova)
- Lassi Etelatalo (Finland)
- Johannes Vetter (Germany)
- Pavel Mialeshka (Belarus)
- Kim Amb (Sweden)
- Alexandru Mihaita Novac (Romania)
Each and every competitor looked like giving their all to finish at the podium, but only three athletes were destined to do their country proud. After a series of attempts, these were the following scores registered by the throwers, with India's Neeraj Chopra topping the list and thereby, becoming India's first-ever individual athlete to win an Olympic Gold medal in the Track and Field events.
Men's Javelin Throw Final, Tokyo Olympics 2020 Scorecard
Rank | Athlete | Country | Best Score (in metres) |
Gold | Neeraj Chopra | India | 87.58 |
Silver | Jakub Vadlejch | Czech Republic | 86.67 |
Bronze | Vitezslav Vesely | Czech Republic | 85.44 |
4 | Julian Weber | Germany | 85.30 |
5 | Arshad Nadeem | Pakistan | 84.62 |
6 | Aliaksei Katkavets | Belarus | 83.71 |
7 | Andrian Mardare | Republic of Moldova | 83.30 |
8 | Lassi Etelatalo | Finland | 83.28 |
9 | Johannes Vetter | Germany | 82.52 |
10 | Pavel Mialeshka | Belarus | 82.28 |
11 | Kim Amb | Sweden | 79.69 |
12 | Alexandru Mihaita Novac | Romania | 79.29 |