‘Thank you for your support, India!’: Neeraj Chopra celebrates 1-year anniversary of Tokyo Olympics javelin gold medal

On this day (August 7) in 2021, Neeraj Chopra scripted history as he became the first Indian to win an athletics medal after independence at the Tokyo Olympics. Clinching gold in javelin throw, Neeraj also became the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal. To celebrate his historic achievement, Neeraj posted a throwback photo from Tokyo 2020 and also captioned it as, "One year on from a moment that has forever blessed me. Thank you for your support, India!"

Neeraj was in top form in Tokyo and showed his domination right from his first throw. His best throw of 87.58m helped him finish at top of the podium, ahead of Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely.

This year Neeraj won India's first-ever silver medal at the World Athletics Championships, with a best throw of 88.13m. After his heroics, the athlete got ruled out of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 (CWG) due to a groin discomfort during his best throw. The 24-year-old won gold at CWG 2018 in Gold Coast and expressed his disappointment at not being able to defend his title.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "I'm extremely disappointed to inform you all that I will not be able to represent the country at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham".

"I had been feeling uncomfortable after the pull I felt in my groin during my fourth throw at the World Championships. On having it investigated medically yesterday by a group of doctors here in the US, a minor strain was discovered and have been advised to undergo rehabilitation and give it rest for the next few weeks.

I have discussed this with my support team and the IOA, AFI and SAI's CAIMS, and we've collectively decided that keeping my long-term goals in mind, it would be best for me to skip the CWG in order to avoid risking any further aggravation of the injury."

"Needless to say, am hurt about not being able to defend my title and missing out on another opportunity to represent the nation. am especially disappointed about losing out on the opportunity to be Team India's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, an honour was looking forward to having in a few day's time."

"For now, I will focus on my rehabilitation and hope to be back in action very soon. I would like to thank the entire country for all the love and support I've received over the past few days, and urge you all to join me in cheering on my fellow Tear India athletes in Birmingham over the coming weeks", he further added.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.