Neeraj Chopra put in a stunning performance to win India’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics. The 23-year-old registered a best attempt of 87.58m to finish ahead of Czech Republic duo of Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely.
Also, grappler Bajrang Punia won a bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65kg category in the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov at the Makuhari Messe Hall A Mat B on Saturday. Punia defeated Niyazbekov 8-0 in the bronze medal match. Despite suffering a knee injury during the semifinals, Bajrang Punia decided to play the match and won.
“Due to knee injury he (Bajrang Punia) was not able to perform attacking wrestling (y’day), which he is known for. We talked over phone early morning& I told him to give his best today (match for Bronze medal),” said Wrestler Bajrang Punia’s father, Balwan Singh.
He is a three-time medal winner at world championships – the only Indian to have won multiple medals at the event, became a world No. 1 in his weight category (65kg) in November 2018 and regained the spot earlier this year, has won a gold each at the Asian Games (2018) and Commonwealth Games (2018), two gold medals at Commonwealth Championships, two gold medals at Asian Championships.
Neeraj began his quest for medal with a massive throw of 87.03 meters and was leading the pack after the end of first attempt. He bettered it with the second throw of 87.58m. While he wasn’t able to improve any further, it was enough to get him the coveted medal.
It was India’s first gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics and also the country’s second individual gold medal in its Olympic history after Abhinav Bindra’s heroics in Beijing 2008.
The Indian javelin thrower had a personal best of 88.07 metres which was also his season-best before starting his Olympics campaign.
India’s medal haul stands at seven in the ongoing Games – the country’s highest ever, beating the tally of six medals won at the London Games in 2012. In the ongoing Tokyo 2020, Mirabai Chanu (silver), PV Sindhu (bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), men’s hockey team ( bronze), and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) have also won medals.
