Paris: Defending champion Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win two successive Olympic medals with a silver in men’s javelin throw but the night belonged to Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who destroyed competition by setting a new Olympic record for his country’s maiden individual gold at the showpiece.
Nadeem managed an astonishing 92.97m in his second attempt to set the bar too high for the rest of the field, including Chopra, who seemed under pressure and managed just one legitimate throw — the silver-winning 89.45m in the second round.
It was the season’s best effort from the Indian, topping his qualification throw of 89.34m, but nowhere close to being enough for gold.
Chopra said he was largely thinking about his injury (adductor niggle) when he was going for his throws.
“Whenever I throw, 60-70 percent focus is on injury. My runway was not good today, my speed was also low. Whatever I have done, I have done with this issue. I didn’t have time for surgery. I was just pushing myself,” Chopra said later.
“There is a lot left in me. I have to do that. I have that feeling that I can do it. Unless I achieve that, I won’t be at peace.”
Nonetheless, Chopra became only the third Indian and the first in track and field to win back-to-back individual Olympic medals.
Only wrestler Sushil Kumar (2008 and 2012) and shuttler PV Sindhu (2016 and 2021) have won back-to-back Olympic medals.
The earlier Olympic record stood at 90.57m in the name of Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, set during the 2008 Beijing Games.
Thorkildsen was watching the proceedings from the stands, along with three-time Olympic champion and world record (98.48m) holder Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters grabbed the last podium place with an effort of 88.54m while Czech Republic’s Yakub Vadlejch finished fourth (88.50m) and was followed by Kenya’s Julius Yego (SB 87.72).
As many as seven athletes went beyond the 86m mark as the competitive field saw three season’s best and an Olympic record.
Keshorn Walcot (86.16) from Trinidad and Tobago also celebrated his season’s best show to finish seventh in the 12-man field.
Before tonight, Chopra had never lost to Nadeem in their 10 earlier meetings.
Nadeem’s monster throw — sixth longest in history — also came in his second attempt which was like a bolt from the blue that stunned the Stade de France.
With this performance, the 27-year-old also extracted revenge of his loss to Chopra in the 2023 Budapest World Championships.
“I have been competing with Arshad since 2010 and lost to him for first time (today). It’s a sport, we have to accept it.
“We will try to maintain Asian supremacy till we have strength in our body. I have learnt that mindset is the biggest thing.”
It was not the first 90m effort from Nadeem, having thrown 90.18m to win gold in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
He is the second Asian to have thrown beyond 90m, the other being Chao-Tsun Cheng (91.36m in 2017) of Chinese Taipei.
Chopra did not take part in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games due to an injury.
Nadeem was to compete with Chopra in the Hangzhou Asian Games in October last year but pulled out at the last minute due to an injury.
He was beaten by Chopra in the 2018 Asian Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Nadeem had come into the Olympics with just one competition under his belt — an 84.21m throw at the Paris Diamond League last month.
