Neeraj Chopra gives India 1st javelin gold in Asiad history
Neeraj Chopra today became the first Indian javelin thrower to win an Asian Games gold medal as he shattered his own national record by clearing a distance of 88.06m in 18th Asian Games at Jakarta today. Chopra's gold is India's only second medal in the javelin throw in Asian Games history after Gurtej Singh won a bronze in 1982 in New Delhi. Here's more.
Neeraj's winning throw came in his third attempt. The 20-year-old began with 83.46m and fouled the second attempt. Liu Qizhen of China was a distant second with a best throw of 82.22m while Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the bronze with an 80.75 effort.
Chopra, the CWG champion, completely dominated the competition as he bettered his own national record of 87.43m which he had come up with in Doha during the first leg of Diamond League series. Chopra's biggest rival was expected to be Chao Tsun-Cheng, who last year recorded a throw of 91.36m but the Chinese Taipei thrower could manage a best of 79.81m to finish fifth.
Chopra, the world junior record holder of 86.48, has been in tremendous form this season as he consistently crossed the 85m mark. He won the Federation Cup in March with 85.94m, clinched gold in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with 86.47m, before the 87.43 effort in Doha. Before coming to Jakarta, he had 85.17 and 85.69 in France and Finland during his Asiad preparations.
