AFI to conduct javelin throwing competition every year on August 7 in honour of gold medallist Neeraj Chopra

HIGHLIGHTS

AFI to host javelin competition every year on August 7 to honour Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj Chopra wins gold medal with the best throw of 87.58 in the men’s javelin final
Neeraj Chopra wins historic athletics gold to join Abhinav Bindra in elite list

August 7 will be itched in the memories of Indian sports fans forever as, on this day, Neeraj Chopra’s soaring javelin earned India their first Olympic gold in athletics.

Lalit Bhanot, the Chairman of Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) Planning Committee, on Tuesday said they will stage javelin throwing competitions every year on August 7.

“Athletics Federation of India’s planning committee has decided to further promote javelin throwing and will hold competitions every year throughout the country on August 7 as Neeraj Chopra won the gold in Tokyo on this day,” Bhanot said in a felicitation program organised for Neeraj Chopra by the AFI.

India’s long and agonising wait for a first Olympic athletics gold medal ended on August 7 when Neeraj Chopra, the son of a farmer, won the men’s javelin at the Tokyo Games.

It took just one throw on a balmy Tokyo night from the 22-year-old to start the world’s second-most populous country dreaming of an end to the years of pain.

His javelin flew into the bright lights of the stadium and landed after covering a distance of 87.03 metres – enough to give him the lead.

Brimming with confidence, Chopra sent his second attempt even further to 87.58m, cementing his position and sending 1.35 billion people back home into delirious joy.

Before Chopra, India only had one individual Olympic gold medal winner in Abhinav Bindra, who won the 10-metre air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Chopra went on to win the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold in 2018 before an injury to his throwing arm and the Covid-19 pandemic kept him sidelined for nearly two years.

But he used the time to iron out chinks in his technique, qualifying for Tokyo with a throw of 87.86m last year and posting a personal best of 88.07 in March this year.