A breathtaking day for the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in Javelin’s throw – The moment for which we all have waited for 13 years. Bajrang Punia bagged a bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65kg category. Aditi Ashok finished at fourth position in Golf. India registers its best-ever medal haul in the Olympics history. Neeraj Chopra’s gold along with 2 silver and 4 bronze medals, the Tokyo Olympics medal haul is India’s largest at any Olympics, getting past a tally of 6 in London 2012.
Athletics
Neeraj Chopra created history by winning India’s first gold medal in the Olympics since 2008. He became only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics, after Abhinav Bindra. The 23-year-old threw a best attempt of 87.58m and end India’s 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics.
Late Milkha Singh always wanted to see an Indian win an Olympic medal in Track and Field events (Athletics) – Neeraj Chopra finally brought the first medal for India.
“It feels unbelievable. It is the first time India has won gold in athletics, so I feel very good. We have just one gold here in other sports. This is our first Olympic medal for a very long time, and in athletics, it is the first time we have gold, so it’s a proud moment for me and my country.” Neeraj Chopra said after winning the historic gold.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday announced a cash reward of Rs 6 crore and a government job for Neeraj Chopra for winning India’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics.
Wrestling
Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia won the bronze medal after defeating Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the men’s freestyle 65kg category on Saturday. He won by a margin of 8-0 bronze medal bout, and earned India’s sixth medal of Tokyo 2020. Bajrang Punia became the sixth Indian wrestler to finish on the Olympic podium after KD Jadhav, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sakshi Malik, and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.
This is also only the second time after the 2012 London Olympics when two Indian wrestlers won medals in the same Olympic Games. Ravi Dahiya had earlier won silver in the men’s 57 kg category in this Olympics.
The Haryana government announced a cash reward of 2.5 cr and a government job for wrestler Bajrang Punia for winning the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
Golf
From ranked 200th in the world to finishing fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, Aditi has come a long way. Aditi Ashok put up an extraordinary performance but fell short of an Olympic medal. She was in medal contention for much of the four rounds. And in the end, was just left a shot behind Japan’s Mone Inami and Lydia Ko of New Zealand. She finished fourth with a three-under 68 in the final round that left her 15-under 269 overall at the par-71 Kasumigaseki Country Club.
“I think I gave it my 100 percent. But, yeah, fourth at an Olympics where they give out three medals, kind of sucks. In any other tournament, I would be really happy, but it’s hard to be happy with fourth place. I played good and gave it my 100 percent,” Aditi Ashok said
“Going into the round I didn’t think about it much, it was fine. But obviously coming in (the final stretch) I tried my best to hole the last few putts. (firework.com) In a regular tournament whether you finish second or fourth it really doesn’t matter, no one cares,” she added.