New Delhi: After winning a historic gold medal at the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Monday arrived back India to receive a thunderous and grand welcome upon landing at the Indira Gandhi Airport.
Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra was mobbed by fans for selfies and hugs. The crowd at the airport wanted to catch a glimpse of the star athlete.
Ayuub Pathan, a petrol pump owner in Gujarat's Bharuch, has offered free petrol, up to Rs 501, to people who share their names with Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra.
"It is our 2-day scheme to honour him. We're entertaining all valid ID Card-holding namesakes of Chopra," he told ANI.
The most successful Indian contingent finally returned to India from the Tokyo Olympics, after winning 7 medals (1 gold, 4 bronze and 2 silver) at the Games.
The medal winners - Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu, Indian men's hockey team, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Lovlina Borgohain - were welcomed by top dignitaries and officials from the SAI. Later in the evening, the champions were facilitated by Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, MoS Sports Nisith Pramanik and Law Minister & former Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju at Ashoka Hotel.
In the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra picked up India's first medal in Track and Field event in the history of Games. This was also India's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Chopra's first throw went for 87.03 meters, second for 87.58 meters while the third throw was 79.79 meters.
With this, India secured its sixth medal overall in 2020 Olympic Games. This was India's first Gold medal after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Abhinav Bindra was the last person to win a gold medal for India. Chopra is just 23 years old and has already created history in a sport that is rarely talked about, in India.