Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra Qualifies For The Final As A Topper,  Keeps India’s Hopes Alive of An Olympic Medal In Athletics

New Delhi: First Olympics, First Attempt and the Javelin thrower from India, Neeraj Chopra was standing like a King in the stadium, as the scoreboard flashed 86.65 meters. This throw earned him a direct qualification into the Final and after some time he has been declared topper of Group A in the Men’s Javelin throw event of the Tokyo Olympics.

 23 years old Neeraj Chopra kept India’s hopes alive, of winning an elusive Olympic medal from track and field events. The Final round of the Javelin Throw event will be held on Saturday, August 7. Another Indian Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh could not perform up to the expectations, his throw of meters was well below his best. The direct qualifying mark for getting a place in the Final was 83.50 meters. In his first attempt, Shivpal registered a throw of 76.40m. After the first attempt, he was placed at the ninth spot. In the second attempt, the 26-year-old registered a throw of 74.80m and by the time everyone was done with their second attempt, he had slipped to the 11th spot. Shivpal registered a disappointing throw of 74.81 in his third and final throw and was placed at the 12th spot when the qualification of Group B ended.

Chopra finished ahead of gold-medal favourite and 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany. Vetter, who had earlier said that Chopra will find it tough to beat him in the Olympics, struggled in his first two throws before crossing the automatic qualification mark with an 85.64m final throw. The 28-year-old towering German, who came into the Olympics after having seven monster throws of 90m-plus between April and June, was lying at a dangerous seventh position after his first two throws but eventually qualified for the final at second.