India has won their first-ever athletics gold in Olympics courtesy Neeraj Chopra. Neeraj, with a best throw of 87.58 in the men’s javelin throw final on Saturday to finish at the top and thus became the second ever athlete from his country after shooter Abhinav Bindra to win an individual Olympic gold. It was India’s seventh medal at the Tokyo Olympics that means they have surpassed their previous best tally of six at the 2012 London Games. The whole cricket fraternity was quick to trend the 23-year-old on Twitter; here are some of the best reactions:
नीरज ने जैवेलिन को पहुंचाया सूरज तक!India shines brighter today because of you, Neeraj.
Your javelin carried the tricolour 🇮🇳 all the way and made it flutter with the pride of every Indian.
What a moment for Indian sport!#Olympics #Tokyo2020 #Athletics #Gold pic.twitter.com/FZ52Ti6EZc
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 7, 2021
Champion #NeerajChopra, you beauty Take a bow pic.twitter.com/yYe8oO8VSQ— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) August 7, 2021
H. I. S. T. O. R. I. C!A proud moment for the nation as Neeraj Chopra wins India’s first gold medal at @Tokyo2020 .
Take a bow, @Neeraj_chopra1! @IndiaSports | @Media_SAI | @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/o3HG31c754
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 7, 2021
Heartiest congratulations to you @Neeraj_chopra1 for bringing the first GOLD home. Proud of your tremendous performance! Jai Hind #Cheer4India #JavelinThrow #Olympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/9edsPTIElS— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) August 7, 2021
India’s #Olympic GOLDs (10)8 - in Men’s #FieldHockey (1928,1932,1936,1948,1952,1956,1964,1980)1 - Abhinav Bindra in the Men’s 10-meter air rifle event in the 2008 Beijing #Olympics1 - Neeraj Chopra in the Men’s Javelin throw event at the #Tokyo2020#OlympicGames#Tokyo2021— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 7, 2021
Yes boy !! You did it . The country salutes you ♂️ so proud of you ! @Neeraj_chopra1— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) August 7, 2021
The 23-year-old Neeraj stormed into the lead with a throw of 87.03 in his first attempt of the final and then improved it to 87.58 in his second. He continued to lead the field throughout the competition that saw Germany’s gold favourite Johannes Vetter crash out after finishing ninth following the first three attempts out of which two were fouls and the one he completed resulted in a throw of 82.52.
Neeraj in the third attempt tapered off with a throw of 76.79 and ended up committing fouls in his next two attempts.
What a proud moment for all of us Neeraj chopra you are GOLD my brother @Olympics @NBCOlympics— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) August 7, 2021
Heart filled with pride !!! Absolutely superb from Neeraj Chopra . #Gold #ind— Rohan Gavaskar (@rohangava9) August 7, 2021
Neeraj Chopra … GOLD. #Gold @Olympics #JaiHind @Neeraj_chopra1 #Tokyo2020— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) August 7, 2021
What an AMAZING day for at the #TokyoOlympicsCongratulations #NeerajChopra on bringing home our first at #Olympics2021. You are an inspiration for everyone!Congratulations to #BajrangPunia also for theCHAMPIONS #Cheer4India #Olympics pic.twitter.com/iwnF6739BK
— Prasidh Krishna (@prasidh43) August 7, 2021
This is India’s moon-landing moment. One of the greatest days in Indian sport. Overjoyed. Feel like a child again. #NeerajChopra— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 7, 2021
The silver medal went to Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic (best throw of 86.67m) while his countryman Vitezslav Vesely took home bronze (best throw of 85.44m).
Mirabai Chanu opened India’s medal account with a historic silver in women’s weightlifting last month. Then PV Sindhu won her second successive Olympic medal - a bronze in women’s singles badminton followed by Lovlina Borgohain adding a third to the country’s tally with a bronze in boxing.
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