The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have just added, and this week we will do a “memorable moments” post to highlight the awesomeness of our Asian siblings all over – so keep an eye out for that. For this piece, we will talk about something pretty awesome and pretty historical for India.
Indian Olympian Neeraj Chopra has just created history to become the first athlete to win an Olympic Gold Medal in athletics for his country (via ESPN):
- Chopra won Olympic Gold for India in the “Men’s Javelin” throwing event on August 7;
- He threw a distance of 87.58m which was his best throw and won him the Gold;
- Chopra is only the 2nd Indian to ever win a Gold Medal in any Olympics, shooter Abhinav Bindra finished on top of the podium in 2008.
- Chopra was leading the event from the qualifying round to the finals;
- He upset the world #1 Men’s Javelin thrower, German Johannes Vetter, who failed to make the top 8 in the finals.
Chopra will definitely become a national hero when he goes home. After his win, he spoke about how he felt winning Olympic Gold (via AP News):
“It feels unbelievable, this is our first Olympic medal for a very long time, and in athletics it is the first time we have gold, so it’s a proud moment for me and my country.”
Congrats!
Image via Twitter