Neeraj Chopra made the country proud on Monday as he clinched a gold medal in the final of men's javelin throw at the 2018 Asian Games. The 20-year-old, who finished with a brilliant throw of 88.06m to make it to the top of the podium, also posted a national record as he got past his previous best of 87.43m which he had set during the Diamond League in Doha, earlier this year. The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medalist missed the Asian Games record by a margin of 1.09m. Asian Games 2018 Day 10 India Schedule in IST & Medal Tally: Full Fixtures List of Indian Athletes in Action on August 28
Meanwhile, Neeraj equalled Milkha Singh’s 60-year-old feat. Milkha in 1958 had won the gold medal in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. And now, Neeraj emulated the feat after his gold medal in Asian Games. Before the Asiad, Neeraj cliched gold in Commonwealth Games as well. He now becomes second Indian athlete to win gold at both Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in the same year.
Reflecting on his victory, Chopra said he had prepared well for the event and was completely focused to get gold for the country. He also dedicated the medal to the late former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Updated Asian Games 2018 Medals Tally.
MILKHA SINGH 1958 : #CommonwealthGames - GOLD 🥇#AsianGames - GOLD 🥇
after 60 years ..
NEERAJ CHOPRA 2018 : #CommonwealthGames - GOLD 🥇#AsianGames - GOLD 🥇
History repeats , take a bow ! #NeerajChopra 🇮🇳#AsianGames2018 pic.twitter.com/QWRh4n1IhV
— Sports Sutra 🇮🇳 (@SpoSutra) August 27, 2018
Speaking to ANI, Chopra said, "The competition was good, I had trained well and was focused on getting a gold medal for the country. I dedicate my medal to Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji who was a great man." Asian Games 2018 Day 9 Highlights
While Qizhen Liu of China claimed the second spot with a throw of 82.22m, Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem settled for a bronze with a mark of 80.75m.
In women's long jump event, Indian athlete Neena Varakil narrowly missed the yellow metal as she settled for a silver medal with a mark of 6.51. It was Vietnamese player Thi Thu Thao Bui who clinched the gold medal with a jump of 6.55m while Xiaoling Xu of China settled for the bronze with a jump of 6.50m. (Inputs ANI).
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2018 10:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).