0:
It's Day 15 of Tokyo Olympics 2020 and it was the last day of participation for Indian contingent. In the morning, all eyes were on Aditi Ashok who came agonizingly close to win an Olympic medal as she eventually finished 4th in women's golf event. The focus was then back on star wrestler Bajrang Punia in the afternoon who clinched bronze medal.
After a dramatic day for Indian fans on Saturday, the stage was set for one of most awaited events - Men's Javelin Throw Finals. Interestingly, it was to be the last event for India at Tokyo 2020 and country's biggest hope of a medal - Neeraj Chopra - was in action.
Brilliant performance by Neeraj in the finals
It was always going to be a huge challenge for Neeraj Chopra in the finals of the event as he was up against some of the world's best javelin throwers. However, the 23-year-old rose to the occasion as he put on a scintillating performance, surpassing the 87m mark in his very first throw, bettering his qualification performance. Neeraj came up with a sensational 87.58m throw in his second attempt which secured a historic gold medal for him at Tokyo 2020, taking India's medal tally to record-breaking total of 7.
Neeraj's throws in the finals were as follows:
1st Attempt - 87.03m
2nd Attempt - 87.58m
3rd Attempt - 76.79m
4th Attempt - X
5th Attempt - X
6th Attempt - 84.24 m
Neeraj had stunned everyone in qualification round
The Indian athlete came in Tokyo as one of the brightest contenders to compete for a medal. However, Neeraj Chopra surpassed all the expectations in the qualification round as he stunned everyone with an outrageous 86.65m throw in his very first attempt. That was it! Neeraj was through to the finals in a matter of 12 seconds as he had comfortably breached the qualification mark of 83.50m.
He ended the qualification round at 1st position among both groups, ahead of Germany's Johannes Vetter (85.64m) who was always the favourite to win a gold medal coming into the Games. However, the German was shockingly knocked out in the finals after first three attempts as his best effort of 82.52m was not good enough to take him through to final 8.
The finalists in the men's javelin throw event were as follows:
1. Neeraj Chopra (India)
2. Julian Weber (Germany)
3. Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan)
4. Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic)
5. Lassi Etelatalo (Finland)
6. Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Republic)
7. Aliaksei Katkavets (Belarus)
8. Andrian Mardare (Moldova)
9. Johannes Vetter (Germany)
10. Pavel Mialeshka (Belarus)
11. Alexandru Novac (Romania)
12. Kim Amb (Sweden)
Watch the video here: