Neeraj Chopra earned the silver medal in the men’s javelin final with his best throw of 89.45 meters.
After 13 days and their penultimate competition, India was able to win a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics other than bronze. The face of Indian athletics, Neeraj Chopra, could not succeed in defending his gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics, but he did secure India’s first silver medal of the 2024 Games. His season-best throw of 89.45 meters, which he made on his second and only legitimate try of the day, was a noteworthy accomplishment, but it was insufficient to overtake Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won the gold with an incredible throw of 92.97 meters, shattering the Olympic record.
Neeraj may have lost out on the gold, but he still gave India five medals from Paris 2024, and he has another chance to win one on Friday. India spent six days without earning a medal after Swapnil Kusale’s bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 position final. On Thursday evening, Neeraj’s silver and the men’s hockey team’s second straight bronze broke the drought.
Neeraj was considered India’s greatest medal hope at the Paris Games, but with strong opponents like Julian Weber, Anderson Peters, and Arshad Nadeem, victory was far from assured. Neeraj became the only other individual male athlete from India to win multiple medals at the Olympics after former wrestler Sushil Kumar. After Neeraj, Arshad, and Weber all committed fouls on their first try, the tournament got off to a stressful start. Arshad was clumsy at beginning, pausing halfway through his run-up and then starting again, only to throw the ball poorly.
But the strong Pakistani competitor swiftly turned things around, with a throw that easily cleared the 90-meter barrier and placed Neeraj under immediate pressure. Neeraj eventually scored on his second try, but after another foul on his third effort, his momentum stalled once again. Neeraj faced tough opposition from Jakub Vadlejch, Anderson Peters, Julius Yego, and Julian Weber among the top eight, even though he finished in second place, after three rounds of competition saw four of the twelve contestants removed.
After the orders were rearranged in round four, Peters grabbed the lead and outran Vadlejch with a score of 88.54. In an attempt to raise his stature, Neeraj trailed behind, but he fouled as well, going over the line and recording another no-throw out of fury. Nadeem reappeared next. This time, following a string of impressive outings, he played it safe and stayed inside the lines, only achieving a throw of 79.40 meters. Nadeem maintained his lead despite the decrease in distance, followed by Neeraj in second and Anderson Peters in third.
More fouls from Neeraj
Lassi Etelatalo was unable to improve his position in the fifth round, and Keshorn Walcott posted a lowly 76.86 meters. Weber, who was in need of a long throw, managed an amazing 87.40 meters, which was an improvement but not good enough to place in the top three. Yego kept himself in fourth position with another strong performance, this time in 83.20 meters. Resolved to strive for a better ranking, Peters threw 87.38 meters to hold onto third place. Then Vadlejch achieved 84.98 meters, just missing the podium.
For his sixth try, Neeraj was once again in the spotlight. Under extreme strain, Neeraj erred once more, going beyond the boundary and letting out his annoyance. As the final round drew nearer, Nadeem secured his advantage with a throw of 84.87 meters in response. With only one throw remaining,
Etelatalo attempted to raise his position with a last-ditch throw of more over 80 meters, but it was insufficient, and he came in eighth. On his final try, Walcott chose to pass and finished in seventh position. Weber finished sixth with a best throw of 87.33 meters, although his last attempt was short of 85 meters. Yego came in fifth place with his previous throw of 87.72 meters, which was good enough for gold in Tokyo.
With his last attempt, Vadlejch, who was fourth at the time, was unable to cross the 85-meter barrier, meaning Neeraj had won a medal. Peters made one more effort to pass Neeraj, but was unable and took home the bronze. Neeraj’s final opportunity to fight Nadeem for the gold had arrived. Sadly, that was not meant to be. He made another mistake, which sealed his destiny with a silver
