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Updated August 8th, 2021 at 12:35 IST

Anand Mahindra's 'Baahubali' reference to laud Neeraj Chopra's heroic throw goes viral

Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra made history on Saturday by becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in a track and field event in over a century.

Reported by: Vishal Tiwari
Tokyo Olympics 2020, Chopra, Javelin, Neeraj Chopra, Anand Mahindra, Olympics medal tally, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia
Image: Olympics/PTI | Image:self
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Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra made history on Saturday by becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in a track and field event in over a century. Chopra won the championship after throwing the longest throw of the event in just his second attempt, which no other contender could beat before the end of the competition. Chopra threw 87.58 metres in his second try to win India's first gold medal at the Olympics this year. Silver and bronze medals went to Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely of the Czech Republic, respectively.

After the final competition, Businessman Anand Mahindra took to social media to compare Chopra with Baahubali, the main character from the iconic movie with the same name. Mahindra took to Twitter to share pictures of Chopra and Baahubali, where Chopra could be seen holding a javelin and the latter holding a javelin-like weapon. The post has garnered more than 60,000 likes since being shared last evening. 

Mahindra calls for commemorative coins in honour of Chopra

Mahindra has also promised to gift a brand new XUV700 to Chopra. The Maharashtra-based tycoon, while responding to a Twitter handle who asked the car on behalf of Chopra, said "It will be my personal privilege & honour to gift our Golden Athlete an XUV 7OO". Mahindra also went as far as to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release "commemorative coins" depicting Chopra. 

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a massive cash price of Rs. 6 crores for the javelin thrower. The 23-year-old will also be getting a Class 1 job in the government sector and a plot of land at 50 percent concession. Shooter Abhivan Bindra was the first individual athlete who had won a gold medal for India at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chopra's win surpassed India's previous best haul at the Olympics of six medals achieved in the 2012 London Games. 

Image: Olympics/PTI

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Published August 8th, 2021 at 12:35 IST

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