Finally hopes for a Gold at Paris Olympics were dashed to ground after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem created Javelin world record of 92.97 meters at Paris Olympics on Thursday making India’s Neeraj Chopra settle for a Silver.
It was also the reversal of order from the World Championships last year when Neeraj Chopra won Gold and Arshad Nadeem won Silver.
Arshad Nadeem became only the second man to throw two 90-plus throws in a single day after Johannes Vetter of Germany in 2017.
Neeraj Chopra won the silver with a best effort of 89.45m, which came in his second attempt. It was his best-ever throw in the Olympic Games as he went past the 89.34m, which helped him earlier seal the top spot in the qualification round on Tuesday.
Neeraj Chopra managed only one legal attempt and it was enough for him to take the Silver and achieve another first for India at the Olympics. On the other hand, Arshad threw twice in excess of 90m in the final in one of the greatest track and field performances in the Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem ensured India-Pakistan finished 1-2 for the first time on the Olympic podium in men’s javelin, a sport that is traditionally dominated by the Europeans.
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win an Olympic Gold medal in a track and field event when he won the men’s javelin event in Tokyo with a best effort of 87.58m. He also became the fifth Indian after Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker to win more than one individual Olympic medals.
Neeraj Chopra managed just one legal attempt as he fouled as many as five times in the final. He was under pressure after Arshad Nadeem threw 92.97m to smash the Olympic Record which was with Andreas Thorkildsen’s record of 90.57m since 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Eventually, Arshad Nadeem finished with two throws in excess of 90m as he finished his series with 91.79m and sealed a historic Gold medal for Pakistan.
Nadeem’s historic victory in the men’s javelin throw final at the 2024 Paris Olympics gave Pakistan its first Olympic medal in over three decades, its first gold in forty years, and first-ever gold medal in track and field events.
It was a sensational men’s final, which had a star-studed field of Olympic medalists. As many as five throwers went past Neeraj’s Gold-medal mark of 87.58m in Tokyo on an adrenaline-pumping evening at Stade de France.
