Reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win consecutive Olympic medals, securing a silver in the men's javelin throw. But it was Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem who stole all the limelight on the night, breaking competition records to win his country's first-ever individual Olympic gold.
Nadeem's 92.97 meters in his second throw set an unbeatable benchmark for his rivals. Chopra, pressured, could only get in one valid throw — an impressive 89.45 meters in the second round, good enough to win the silver medal.
Despite this being his season's best, beating his qualification throw of 89.34 meters, it was still short of the gold standard for Chopra. He said he wasn't fully concentrating on his throws after a niggling injury, speaking after the final.
"Every time I throw, about 60-70 percent of my focus is on the injury. My runway wasn't smooth today, and my speed was off. I've been pushing through without time for surgery," Chopra later shared. "There's still more left in me. I won't be at peace until I achieve what I know I'm capable of."
However, Chopra joined an elite group of Indian athletes to become only the third Indian and the first in athletics to win consecutive individual Olympic medals. Only wrestler Sushil Kumar—in 2008 and 2012—and badminton star PV Sindhu—in 2016 and 2021—are the other Indians who have done so.
The 2008 Olympic champion and then record holder – 90.57 meters – Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen was present, as was three-time Olympic champion and world record holder – 98.48m – Jan Železný of the Czech Republic.
The bronze went to Grenada's Anderson Peters with 88.54m, just ahead of Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who was fourth with 88.50m, while Julius Yego of Kenya was fifth with 87.72m, a season's best.
Seven athletes went beyond 86m in a fiercely competitive event that included three season's bests and an Olympic record.
Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago matched his season's best throw of 86.16 meters for seventh of the 12 competitors.
Before this event, Chopra was unbeaten in their 10 previous meetings with Nadeem. This phenomenal throw by Nadeem was the sixth-longest in history and made many eyes pop up in awe at the Stade de France. It not only awarded him gold but was also sort of a revenge act for the loss to Chopra at the 2023 Budapest World Championships.
"I've been competing with Arshad since 2010, and today was the first time I lost to him. Part of the sport, and we digest it," Chopra acknowledged. "We'll continue to uphold Asian domination in javelin as long as we have the strength. I've learned that mindset is everything."
This, however, was not the first time Nadeem crossed the 90-meter mark; he had earlier thrown 90.18 meters for gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He became only the second man from Asia to ever throw beyond 90 meters, after Chao-Tsun Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who threw 91.36 meters in 2017.
Chopra had injured himself before the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and had beaten Nadeem in both the 2018 Asian Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Nadeem was going to face Chopra at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, but he pulled out at the last minute due to injury. Nadeem came into the Olympics with only one competition—a season-best 84.21 meters at the Paris Diamond League last month—under his belt.
It finally turned out to be a night of two historic achievements by both athletes: Pakistan got its first ever Olympic gold in track and field courtesy of Nadeem, while Chopra cemented his legacy with yet another Olympic medal for India.
