Olympics declares ‘Neeraj Chopra day’ as India’s golden boy enters javelin final

The official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the Olympics described August 26, 2024, as the “Neeraj Chopra” day as the golden boy of Indian sports started his Paris Olympics journey with a bang. Neeraj breezed into the men’s javelin by topping the qualification round with a season-best throw of 89.34m on Tuesday. What’s even more amazing? The defending champion and independent India’s only medalist in athletics, took only one attempt to ensure automatic qualification.
In Qualification B, Neeraj was the first to go, and he hurled his first javelin way beyond the automatic qualification mark of 85m to sail into the final.
“Happy Neeraj Chopra day, to all those who celebrate,” wrote the Olympics X handle minutes before Neeraj’s qualification round began. “The reigning champ is back in Olympic action for today’s Men’s Javelin qualifiers, could he be adding another medal to his collection soon?” they added in reply.
The final will be played on Thursday at 11:55 pm IST.
Speaking on JioCinema, Neeraj said that he threw the javelin in the sunshine in Tokyo, but it is much cooler and less humid in Paris.
“In Tokyo, we threw in the sunshine and here it’s a bit cooler and the humidity is much lesser. Tokyo was much warmer and more humid than Paris. The big difference is that there are crowds here,” said Neeraj.
On the challenge of defending his title, Neeraj stated: “Being defending champion is motivation and I need to be prepared. The mind should be focused on doing the job at hand.”
Talking about his throw during the qualification round, Neeraj said that though his throw was good, the final remains the “real deal”.
“Final will be a cracker, the Tokyo final mark has already been surpassed by qualification. We were a little relaxed today. The burden and pressure will be much more in the final,” he added.
Chopra also discussed his injury concerns and said: “I have had a few issues with my groin and that is why I did not take part in a lot of competitions. It is important to stay fit and reach the final.”