Neeraj Chopra lives up to his words of 'giving it all' at the Tokyo Olympics

Neeraj Chopra lived up to his word after he clinched a historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, August 7. The 23-year-old became the first athlete to win a gold medal in athletics for India and only the second individual gold medallist after Abhinav Bindra. This gold medal win was India’s overall seventh in Tokyo, their best-ever campaign in Summer Olympics.

Chopra put in one of the finest displays by an Indian at the Olympics and clinched a historic gold medal. Playing his first-ever Olympics, he was excited heading into the it and had promised to give it his all in Tokyo. Neeraj Chopra came true on his promise, giving it his all as he threw a gigantic 87.58m in the men's javelin throw finals.

Neeraj Chopra started his Tokyo Olympics campaign in style, topping everyone as he clinched the top spot in the qualification after a gigantic 86.65m throw and automatically qualifying for the final. He followed it up with a near-perfect final performance, starting with an 87.03m throw, before following it up with 87.58m. While gold medal favourite Johannes Vetter didn't do well, Czech Republic duo Jakub Vadlejch and Vítězslav Veselý took the next two podium spots, finishing ahead of Germany’s Julian Weber and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem.

Neeraj Chopra wins gold

Neeraj Chopra was one of India’s biggest draws at the Olympics, and the country’s biggest medal hopes heading into it. The 23-year-old is also a gold medallist at the Asian as well as Commonwealth Games and setting the national record with an 88.07m javelin throw at the National Championships earlier this year. Chopra lived up to his billing and won India’s first gold medal in athletics, dedicating it to the likes of Milkha Singh and PT Usha, who came agonisingly close to clinch a podium spot.

While he became India’s golden boy, Neeraj Chopra had his fair share of struggles as he chased his moment of glory, overcoming a brutal elbow injury to return to his top shape in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics. The 23-year-old showed great grit and determination to put his name in the record books and the future looks bright for India’s ace javelin thrower.

Image: neeraj____chopra/Instagram & AP