Paris Olympics 2024: Can Neeraj Chopra Achieve What No Other Indian Has?

Neeraj Chopra will compete in the men’s javelin throw final on Thursday, August 8, starting at 11:55 p.m. IST. The 26-year-old athlete from Haryana is the defending Olympic gold medalist, having won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. A victory in Paris would make him the first Indian to secure two Olympic gold medals.

Previous Olympic Success

Abhinav Bindra was the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal, achieving the feat in shooting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, Bindra did not win medals in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics.

Qualification Performance

Chopra qualified for the final after topping the qualification rounds with a throw of 89.34 meters, the best among all 30 participants.

Historical Context

A podium finish for Chopra would make him the third Indian athlete to win medals in consecutive Olympic Games, following wrestler Sushil Kumar and badminton star PV Sindhu. Kumar won bronze in Beijing 2008 and silver in London 2012, while Sindhu earned silver in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2020.

Competitors

In the final, Chopra will face strong competition from:
– Anderson Peters of Grenada, the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
– Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, who finished fifth in Tokyo 2020.
– Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic, the current world No. 1.
– Julian Weber of Germany.
– Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, the London 2012 Olympic gold medalist.