Paris: When thousands of Indians looked forward to Neeraj Chopra with his second consecutive Olympic gold around his neck, fortune lacked lustre a little after the Indian superstar javelin thrower was made for a compromise to silver. The Tokyo Olympics of India threw for the final on Thursday night for gold at the Paris Olympics but had to be satisfied with the second place.
Chopra, who came into the final as the favourite with a brilliant effort of 89.34 metres in the qualifying, threw the javelin to 89.45, his second-best ever effort, a clear improvement on the 87.58 that bagged him the gold medal in Tokyo. But that did not prove enough for the reigning World Champion and Diamond League final winner as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, his good friend on the circuit, upstaged him by setting the Olympic Record to win the gold medal.
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem broke the Olympic Record in the men's javelin throw final with a monster heave of 92.97 metres to upstage the Indian Tokyo Olympic Games gold medallist. Nadeem had finished fourth in Tokyo and had struggled with injuries and financial crunch in the interim period,
But on Thursday, Nadeem came up with a sensational effort to win the gold.
That gigantic throw of 92.97 put Nadeem at the top of the standings, and he remained in that position managing throws of 88,72, 79.40m, and 84.87m and then ended the competition with a throw of 91.79 metres, the second time somebody crossed the 90m mark twice in the Olympics, as he became Pakistan's first gold medallist in individual competitions in the Olympics.
Anderson Peters of Granada took the bronze medal with a best throw of 88.54 metres.
Chopra started the final with a foul on his first attempt. Nadeem also fouled his first throw, while Trinidad's Keshorn Walcott took the lead with a throw of 86.16m, and Anderson Peter was second at 84.70.
The Indian star did not look convincing in any of his throws except on the second turn, which was his lone legal throw on the night,
Chopra still made history for India, becoming the second male Indian and third overall to win a medal in back-to-back medals in the Olympics after wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze and silver in the 2008 and 2012 Games. PV Sindhu is the other Indian to win back-to-back medals - silver in 2016 and Tokyo,
Neeraj's silver medal was India's fifth medal in Paris, with one silver medal and four bronze medals. The Indian has been struggling with injuries for the last couple of years, and it seems the effects are still there. The javelin throw event in the Paris Olympics was so tough that Julien Webber of Germany, the silver medallist at Tokyo, had to be satisfied with a sixth place.
However, the expectations from him were so high that the silver medal felt disappointing, but Neeraj could not do anything on Thursday as Nadeem was too good for everyone.
But Nadeem virtually killed the competition on his second turn, unleashing a monster throw of 92.97, leaving everyone in the stadium stunned. With that throw, Nadeem broke the existing Olympic Record of Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, who threw 90.57 in Beijing 2008. It is also the sixth-best throw in the all-time list.
Chopra maintained the pressure on his friend and opponent with a throw of 89.45 in his second turn and moved to the second spot. The 26-year-old from Haryana had three foul throws in the next four turns, ending the Paris Olympics with a silver medal.
Nadeem became the first Asian to breach the 90m mark in javelin throw at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Chopra has never crossed the 90m mark. Nadeem won the first individual gold medal for Pakistan, who have won only three gold medals in the Olympics- all in hockey.
Only two Pakistanis have won individual medals -- both bronze medals bagged by Muhammad Bashir in Men's freestyle welterweight wrestling in 1960 and boxer Hussain Shah in Men's middleweight in 1988 in Seoul.
The men's hockey team won Pakistan's last medal in the Olympics, and a bronze medal in Barcelona in 1992. Nadeem is set to end a 32-year drought for an Olympic medal for Pakistan. The country won its last gold medal in hockey in 1984 in Los Angeles.