Neeraj Chopra created history as he won a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw final to bring India’s first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and the first ever for India in track & field discipline. Chopra, one of the favourites heading into the Games, lived up to the expectations, as his second throw of 87.58m proved to be the deal-breaker that made him an immortal part of Indian sports folklore.
The historic moment by Chopra was celebrated by Indians all around the world, including the Indian broadcast panel of the India vs England Test series in Nottingham. As the entire panel lauded Chopra for his achievement for India, one celebration that stood out was that of Sunil Gavaskar. The former India captain, one of the many glued to the TV watching Chopra script history, erupted in joy.
What made it even more special was Gavaskar singing and dancing to the patriotic song ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’ from the 1967 film ‘Upkar’, starring Manoj Kumar and sung by late singer Mahendra Kapoor. The song is a classic and right up there in terms of the best patriotic songs ever produced in Bollywood.
While Gavaskar could not stop himself from praising Chopra, former India batsman Ajay Jadeja and fast bowler Ashish Nehra were also spotted celebrating Chopra’s colossal feat of becoming only the second individual gold medallist from India after Abhinav Bindra’s pathbreaking achievement at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Chopra’s gold was India’s seventh of this Olympics, which is the country’s best-ever medal haul, surpassing the six medals India won eight years nine years ago at the London Olympics in 2012.
Chopra capped off another phenomenal day for India at the Olympics, which saw wrestler Bajrang Punia win a bronze medal in the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling. They join weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, shuttler PV Sindhu, wrestler Ravi Dahiya, boxer Lovlina Borgohain and the Indian men’s hockey team as the medal winners from Tokyo games.
Source: Hindustan Times