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Athletics

Neeraj Chopra becomes the first Indian to qualify for the athletics final by topping the group

The 23-year-old was the top-performing athlete in the men's javelin throw qualification round with an effort of 86.65m

Indian Athlete Neeraj Chopra
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India's realistic hope in Athletics is Neeraj Chopra (Source: Reuters)

By

Manish Sharma

Updated: 4 Aug 2021 12:33 PM GMT

India's Neeraj Chopra qualified for the Men's Javelin Throw finals at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing in the top position of the group stages. The 23-year-old from Panipat is one of the country's biggest hope for a medal in athletics as he has continued to impress with his performances in the javelin throw event. In the build-up to Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra broke his own national record with an effort of 88.07m at the Indian Grand Prix in March.

Neeraj who was second last in the order of attempts in Group A amongst the sixteen athletes threw 86.65m in his first attempt and that was also his only attempt as well. He breached the qualification mark of 83.5m and made a direct entry into finals, finishing on top of Group A in the process. Johannes Vetter from Germany, one of the favourites for the gold medal, finished second behind Neeraj Chopra in the group throwing an 85.64m in his final attempt.

Group B, where Shivpal Singh was knocked out after finishing 12th, saw Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem finish on top with an effort of 85.16m. The second-best effort in the group was of Jakub Vadlejch who threw 84.93m.

The results at the end of Group B confirmed that Neeraj Chopra became the first-ever Indian athlete to top the overall group stages in athletics at the Olympic Games to qualify for the finals.

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