Neeraj Chopra won the men’s javelin on Saturday for India’s first-ever Olympic athletics gold.
Chopra, 23, managed a winning best of 87.58 metres to go one better than India’s previous best — two silver medals won in the 200m and now-defunct 200m hurdles at the 1900 Paris Games by British-Indian Norman Pritchard.
The Czech Republic filled out the podium at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, Jakub Vadlejch taking silver with 86.67m and Vitezslav Vesely claiming bronze with 85.44m.
“It’s incredible because Vítězslav [Veselý] won the bronze medal,” said silver winner Vadlejch about the two Czech positions on the podium. “So it’s amazing. It’s perfect, it’s perfect feelings, I’m very glad.”
The Czech team now has a total of eleven medals, four of them gold, which is the best result at the summer Olympics in the history of the independent Czech Republic.
❤️🇨🇿 PLACKY NA KONEC! 🙌🏼 🥈 JAKUB VADLEJCH! (1/2) 🤩#olympijskytym #Tokyo2020 #Athletics #olympijsky pic.twitter.com/NoAzvCvamY
— Český olympijský tým (@olympijskytym) August 7, 2021
