New Delhi, Aug 13 2024-
Paris Olympics silver medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra captured a moment with his coach and physio and appreciated the duo for their effort in helping him win the second consecutive Olympic medal.
Neeraj posted a photo on Instagram acknowledging the efforts of his coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwaha.
“Glad to capture a moment with the men who made it possible – my coach Klaus Bartonietz and Physio Ishaan Marwaha,” Neeraj captioned the post.
Chopra, who came into the final as the favourite with a brilliant effort of 89.34m in the qualifying, threw the javelin to 89.45m, his second-best ever effort, a clear improvement on the 87.58m that bagged him the gold medal in Tokyo. But that did not prove enough for the reigning World Champion and Diamond League final winner as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, his good friend in the sport, upstaged him by setting the Olympic record to win the gold medal with a monster heave of 92.97m.
However, Neeraj joined the elusive club of athletes to win two Olympic medals for India. Sushil Kumar became the first athlete in the London 2012 Olympics to win two medals for India post-independence while PV Sindhu joined the list in the last edition of the showpiece event in Tokyo.
Manu Bhaker matched the feat in the Paris Olympics with her double glory after bagging two bronze medals in shooting. She became the first Indian athlete after partition to win two medals in the same edition of the Games. (Agency)
