Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Sunday said that he is still processing the feeling of winning gold for India at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.“Still processing this feeling. To all of India and beyond, thank you so much for your support and blessings that have helped me reach this stage. This moment will live with me forever,” tweeted Chopra. Neeraj Chopra on Saturday threw the javelin to a distance of 87.58m to pick the gold at the Olympics. He began his quest for a medal with a massive throw of 87.03 meters and was leading the pack after the end of the first attempt. He bettered it with the second throw of 87.58m.
While Neeraj 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. Neeraj had then said that he wants to dedicate his medal at the Tokyo Olympics to track and field legends Milkha Singh and PT Usha. Milkha Singh, who passed away earlier this year, always had this dream of seeing an athlete win gold medal at the Olympics. Earlier, PT Usha came close to winning a medal at the 1984 Olympics, but she missed out by a whisker.
“Milkha Singh had this dream of an Indian athlete winning a medal at athletics in the Olympics, he always wanted to win someone gold, it has now been fulfilled but he is not here with us. He would have felt proud if he was here and if I was able to go to him. I will dedicate this medal to him and PT Usha. PT Usha had missed out on a medal by a whisker, I think her dream has also been fulfilled,” Neeraj told.
India has now won seven medals in the multi-sporting event, its best-ever performance. In the ongoing Tokyo 2020, 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.