Neeraj Chopra Doesn’t Disappoint; wins Javelin Gold

August 29, 2018 Pratik Asthana Sports Scoops 2

Jakarta, 26 August 2018: Team India walked into the 2018 Asian Games with 524 athletes, many of which were expected to win a medal, if not gold, and return to India. Heading all these expectations was the young Neeraj Chopra, who was also assigned as India’s flag bearer for the opening ceremony in Indonesia.

I’m glad to be writing this and reporting that the 20-year old Neeraj Chopra hasn’t disappointed his country, winning gold in the Men’s Javelin Throw Event, with a throw of 88.06 meters in his third attempt at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium here on Monday. The silver went to China while Pakistan bagged the bronze.

Neeraj will be coming home as an extremely proud man, not just having won a gold medal, but also becoming the first Indian to win a gold in javelin throw in Asian Games history. To add to that, his throw of 88.06 meters also broke his personal best and national record. Of his six attempts, two were fouls (second and sixth), while the third one turned out to be the record breaker, which brought India gold.

Neeraj Chopra

It turned out to be India’s 8th gold medal of the international competition in Indonesia, while bringing their overall tally to 41 medals. India’s previous best result in javelin throw at the Asian Games was way back in 1982, when Gurtej Singh won a bronze in New Delhi. Surely, Chopra is one to watch out for in the future. He has grown well, and is slowly only getting better.

Not just this, he was greatly lauded after the event for his gesture towards his Pakistani opponent. Sania Mirza took to Twitter to mention this, calling sports the ‘best education’. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem also accepted that he loves Chopra’s technique and that he would like to emulate him one day.

See Sania Mirza’s tweet:

For all latest updates on the 2018 Asian Games, visit Sports Team of India.

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