India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made a splash at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Tuesday. ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj has entered the final of the men’s javelin throw event. He made it to the finals with the season’s best throw. He threw 89.34 meters in the first attempt and stole the show. This is his second best throw so far. Neeraj has once again raised hopes of a gold medal. He won gold in Tokyo Olympics. He will defend his title on August 8.
Whereas, Kishore Jena failed to qualify for the finals. He threw 80.73 meters. Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan has also made it to the final. He qualified with 86.59 metres. There has been talk of rivalry and friendship between Nadeem and Neeraj for a long time. Neeraj, who has created many records for Indian athletics, would like to create history by making a splash in the final. If he wins gold, he will become the fifth player in Olympic history to retain the title.
Neeraj will also become the first Indian to win two gold medals in Olympic individual category. So far, Eric Lemming (Sweden 1908 and 1912), Jonny Maira (Finland 1920 and 1924), Jan Zelenji (Czech Republic 1992 and 1996) have retained the title in the men’s javelin throw event of the Olympics. Neeraj considers Gelenji as his idol. Andreas T (Norway 2004 and 2008) has also defended the title. This year, Chopra participated in only three events but his other competitors also did not perform well.
Chopra threw a throw of 88.36 meters in the Doha Diamond League in May. At the same time, due to discomfort in the adductor, he did not participate in the Ostrava Golden Spike on May 28 as a precaution. He returned with a gold at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland in June with a throw of 85.97 metres. After this, he did not participate in the Paris Diamond League on July 7.
