President Ram Nath Kovind lauds Neeraj Chopra, says his gold medal at Olympics will inspire youth
Aug 07, 2021
New Delhi [India], August 7 : President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra for winning a gold medal in Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
The President said in a tweet that Neeraj Chopra's achievement will inspire the youth.
"Unprecedented win by Neeraj Chopra! Your javelin gold breaks barriers and creates history. You bring home first ever track and field medal to India in your first Olympics. Your feat will inspire our youth. India is elated! Heartiest congratulations!" he said.
Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra created history on Saturday as he became the first athlete from the country to win a gold in a track and field event in the Olympics. He threw a distance of 87.58m to pick the gold at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Neeraj began his quest for medal with a massive throw of 87.03 meters and was leading the pack after the end of first attempt. He bettered it with the second throw of 87.58m. While he wasn't able to improve any further, it was enough to get him the coveted medal. He is now the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win a gold medal in individual events.
India has now won seven medals in the multi-sporting event, its best ever performance at the Olympics. Bajrang Punia (Bronze), Mirabai Chanu (silver), PV Sindhu (bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), men's hockey team ( bronze), and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) have also won medals.
Neeraj Chopra had announced his arrival in style in the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday when he threw a monstrous throw of 86.65m and automatically qualified for the final after just his first attempt.
The Indian javelin thrower had a personal best of 88.07 metres which was also his season-best before starting his Olympics campaign.
