Arshad Nadeem’s Record Breaking 92.97m Throw That Ended Pakistan’s 40 Year Wait: Neeraj Chopra had to settle for a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw final of the Paris Olympics on Thursday night after his dreams of adding a second gold medal to his first from Tokyo were dashed.
With a stunning throw of 89.34 meters in the qualification, Chopra entered the final as the favorite.
He hurled the javelin to 89.45, his second-best ever performance and a significant improvement over the 87.58 that won him the gold in Tokyo.
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However, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who happens to be the champion of the Diamond League, upset him by breaking the Olympic Record to win the gold medal, but that was insufficient for the reigning World Champion and Diamond League finalist.
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan outperformed the Indian gold winner in the men’s javelin throw final, shattering the Olympic Record with a massive heave of 92.97 meters.
Nadeem had battled with ailments and a lack of funds in the interim after finishing fourth in Tokyo.
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Nadeem became Pakistan’s first gold medallist in individual Olympic competitions after his incredible throw of 92.97 put him at the top of the standings.
He maintained that position with throws of 88,72, 79.40m, and 84.87m before finishing the competition with a throw of 91.79 meters, the second time someone crossed the 90-meter mark twice in the Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra started the final with a foul on his first attempt, Nadeem too fouled his first throw while Trinidad’s Keshorn Walcott took the lead with a throw of 86.16m while Anderson Peter was second at 84.70.
Even so, Chopra created history for India by being the third person and second male Indian to win back-to-back Olympic medals, following wrestler Sushil Kumar, who took home bronze and silver in the 2008 and 2012 Games. The second Indian to win two consecutive medals is PV Sindhu, who took home silver in Tokyo in 2016.
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India won one silver, four bronze, and Neeraj’s silver medal in Paris, making it their fifth overall. It appears that the repercussions of the Indian’s injury struggles over the past several years are still present.
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.
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.
(With Input From NDTV)
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