Neeraj Chopra Paris Olympics 2024: Date of 7 August 2021… This was the date when Neeraj made a throw of 87.58 meters in Tokyo Olympics and won the gold medal for India. He became India’s biggest star athlete overnight. This was the first gold medal in India’s athletics (track and field) history. It was Neeraj whose gold medal brought about the craze for javelin in India. After Neeraj, javelin throwers like Kishore Jena, DP Manu also came forward. Teenage Jena also won the quota for the Paris Olympics, but missed a place in the final round.
Before Neeraj, there were many such occasions when India came close to winning a medal in athletics (track and field). Milkha Singh stood fourth in the 400 meter race (Rome Olympics 1960). He then missed the medal by a slight margin of 0.1 second.
Whereas PT Usha was close to winning a medal in athletics in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She finished fourth in the 400 meter hurdles final and missed the bronze medal by just 1/100 of a second. When Neeraj won the gold medal in Tokyo, he gave hope to India that Indian athletes also have the potential.
When Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in Tokyo, he fulfilled Milkha Singh’s dream. ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh had passed away just a few months before Neeraj won the gold. As long as Milkha was alive, his dream was that an Indian would win a medal in athletics (track and field).
However, Neeraj won the silver medal in Paris and made history because he is the first Indian player to win gold and silver medals in back to back individual events.
On August 8, 2024, Paris Neeraj won the silver medal for India by throwing the javelin 89.45 meters. Whereas Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem threw the javelin 92.97 meters and won the gold. The bronze medal of this event was won by Anderson Peters of Grenada by throwing 88.54 meters javelin.
Neeraj had earlier won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics by throwing the javelin at a distance of 87.58 meters. But this time in Paris, he threw the javelin further than the throw in Tokyo, but he got the silver medal. However, he definitely improved his Olympic record. Now the challenge before Neeraj is when will he cross the 90 meter barrier. Because Pakistani Arshad Nadeem has created an Olympic record by throwing 92.97 meters.
The world record for javelin throw is held in the name of a player from Czech Republic. Three-time world champion and Olympic champion, Czech Republic’s veteran athlete Jan ZELEZNY had registered a world record in his name with a throw of 98.48 meters in 1996 during an athletics competition in Germany. Which continues till today.
This medal is in the name of Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj Chopra maintained his charm even after winning the gold medal in Tokyo Olympics. He also won gold medals in Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 and Budapest World Athletics Championship.
Paris Olympics 2024- Silver Medal
Hangzhou Asian Games 2023- Gold Medal
Budapest World Athletics Championships- Gold Medal
Tokyo Olympics 2020- Gold Medal
Jakarta Asian Games 2018- Gold Medal
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018- Gold Medal
Asian Athletics Championships 2017- Gold Medal
World U-20 Athletics Championships 2016- Gold Medal
South Asian Games 2016- Gold Medal
Asian Junior Championship 2016- Silver Medal
Kishore Jena and DP Manu emerged after Neeraj
If we talk about the javelin throwers emerging in India after Neeraj Chopra, the names of Kishore Jena and DP Manu are among them. Teenage Jena won the silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games. On October 4, 2023, he won the silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games with a record throw of 87.54 meters. He had reached the qualifying round of Paris Olympics. But he could throw the javelin only 80.73 meters, thus missing the target of 84 meters (or top 12 players) to qualify for the final.
Talking about DP Manu, he stood fifth in javelin throw in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Overall in 2022, he threw the javelin more than 80 meters in five events. In July 2023, he threw the javelin to a distance of more than 81 meters to win silver in the Asian Athletics Championship held in Bangkok. He was selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023. He qualified for the final with a throw of 81.31 metres, then finished sixth with a throw of 84.14 metres.
That is, one thing is clear, Neeraj’s gold medal in Tokyo Olympics has opened the doors of hope for India in athletics.