Neeraj Chopra ended India's wait for an Olympic gold in athletics with a dominating performance in men's javelin throw final at the Tokyo Games on Saturday. Neeraj Chopra won the gold with a best attempt of 87.58m, such was the 23-year-old's dominance that no other competitor managed to equal or go past his second-best throw of 87.03m. After Neeraj Chopra's stellar show in the javelin final, his father Satish Kumar said that the "nation's blessings" helped his son bring home the gold medal.
"I am very happy. Our nation has won a medal, that too gold. We believe it was our nation's blessings that we have won the gold," Neeraj Chopra's father said.
Neeraj's father further added that he is proud of his son for ending India's wait for an Olympic gold in athletics.
"We are proud that our son, with a medal in javelin, has ended India's wait for an Olympic gold in athletics," he said.
Neeraj's father also opened up on his son's early struggles which he had faced due to the lack of infrastructure for sports in their village.
"We don't have the infrastructure or stadiums here in our village. This is why Neeraj had to travel 15-16km to train," he mentioned.
"We had belief in Neeraj even for Rio Olympics but sadly he couldn't get the wildcard entry. But we were sure this time, with the way he was training, that he will win a medal in Tokyo."
In Tokyo, Neeraj had made his intentions clear right from the get-go. In the qualification round, the 23-year-old breached the automatic qualification mark and sealed a place in the final with his very first attempt.
The Indian javelin thrower started the final from where he left off in the qualification round, taking an early lead with a throw of 87.03m. He then bettered that mark in his next attempt with a throw of 87.58m.
Johannes Vetter, who was one of the favourites to win the gold, crashed out after first three throws.
No one else even came close to beating Neeraj's stupendous effort.
Czech Republic duo Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely won the silver and bronze, respectively.