Chopra gifts the Olympic Museum with javelin that won gold medal

Lausanne: Neeraj Chopra gave his historic gold-medal-winning javelin from the Tokyo Olympics to the Olympic Museum in this city.

The Indian, who last year in Tokyo became the first track and field athlete from his nation to win an Olympic medal, gave the museum his most valued javelin on Saturday.

"For any athlete, it is a great honour to be able to inspire others," Chopra, who won the Olympic gold with a throw of 87.58m, told Olympics.com.

The museum has a rich collection of 120 years, which includes the rifle of Abhinav Bindra, who became the first Indian to win individual Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008.

The museum is managed by the International Olympic Committee's Heritage team with the objective of securing the Olympic legacy.

"I can see Abhinav Bindra's rifle at the museum which gives me tremendous motivation. I hope my javelin has the same impact on future athletes, especially from India," Chopra added.

Bindra, who is also a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, was also present on the occasion.

"I am delighted that his javelin will now join my rifle at the Olympic Museum, which has been a bit lonely in terms of Indian company so far," an emotional Bindra said.

More than 90,000 artefacts, 650,000 photographs, 45,000 hours of videos, and 1.5km of historical archives are managed at the Olympic Museum.

With PTI inputs