Guwahati: Neeraj Chopra ended India’s 100-year wait for a medal in track and field events in Olympics after he came up with the best throw of 87.58m in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The 23-year-old had kicked off the proceedings with a throw of 87.03m and came up with a gold medal-winning throw in the 2nd attempt.
Neeraj’s first throw would have been enough for him to win the golden glory as none of the other javelin throwers could even touch the 87m-mark. But the millions watching the event live didn’t know that he had to take the first throw hurriedly.
Speaking to The Times of India, Neeraj has revealed that Arshad Nadeem was carrying his javelin and that he had to take his throw in a hurry.
“I was searching for my javelin at the start of the final in Olympics. I was not able to find it. Suddenly, I saw Arshad Nadem was moving around with my javelin. Then I told him, ‘Bhai give this javelin to me, it is my javelin! I have to throw with it’. He gave it back to me. That’s why you must have seen I took my first throw hurriedly,” Neeraj has said.
Soon after Neeraj’s comments, the video of him taking his javelin from Arshad has also gone viral on social media. Arshad had walked into the arena before Neeraj and can be seen with his javelin. Check out the video –
Arshad Nadeem caught tampering with @Neeraj_chopra1 Javelin in the @Olympics final. pic.twitter.com/8isNbGQw6Z
— Jangra_jee (@jangra_jee) August 25, 2021
One of the strongest contenders to win a medal in the Tokyo Olympics, Arshad had come up with the best throw of 85.16m. Germany’s Johannes Vetter, another strong contender to win a medal, had recorded the best throw of 85.64m. Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) had finished at the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively.
Courtesy of Neeraj’s gold medal-winning throw, India ended the Tokyo Olympics with 7 medals, the country’s highest tally in the history. Wrestlers Ravi Dahiya (silver) and Bajrang Punia, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu (silver), boxer Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), shuttler PV Sindhu (bronze) and Indian men’s hockey team (bronze) also made the country proud at Tokyo Olympics.
