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Indian Army top brass on Saturday congratulated Subedar Neeraj Chopra on winning the country''s first-ever gold medal in athletics at the ongoing Olympics.The "Entire Army was proud of his achievement," Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, said that the 23-year-old athlete did the armed forces, and the nation proud. Neeraj Chopra''s gold medal is the second for India in the individual category after Abhinav Bindra, who bagged the top prize in the 19m Air Rifle shooting event in China General Rawat, said, "Neeraj Chopra has proven that when there is the WILL there is a way. He has done the Armed Forces and the Nation proud like many other Olympians who have created history in TOKYO 2020." He added, "We are confident you will continue to reach greater heights in the years to follow. Your achievement will inspire and motivate other sportspersons to aspire and succeed to bring bigger laurels and greater honour to our Nation. "Subedar Neeraj Chopra, VSM created history by winning the nations'' first gold medal in Javelin Throw at the Olympics with a gigantic throw of 87.58 metre at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This was the first Olympics medal in track and field events at Tokyo and ended India''s 121 year wait for an Olympic medal in athletics. He has joined the ranks of Abhinav Bindra and is only the second Indian to win individual gold at the Olympics," reads the Indian Army statement. According to the Indian Army, Neeraj Chopra was enrolled in 4 Rajputana Rifles as a Direct Entry Naib Subedar on May 15, 2016. After joining the Indian Army, he was selected for training at Mission Olympics Wing and Army Sports Institute, Pune. Mission Olympics Wing, a premier initiative by the Indian Army to identify and train elite sportsmen in eleven selected disciplines at five Mission Olympics Nodes to excel in various national and international competitions. Mission Olympics Wing has given two Olympic Silver medals in Shooting to the nation and is committed to many more. Neeraj Chopra''s medal highlights the hard work and efforts of Mission Olympics Wing. Sub Neeraj was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2018 and VSM in 2020 for his excellence in sports. Neeraj Chopra came into prominence with his performance at the World U-20 Championship, Poland where he set a new Junior World Record with a throw of 86.48m. He won Asian Championship 2017 in Bhubaneswar with a throw of 85.23 metre. Neeraj started training under Uwe Hohn of Germany and won the Gold medal in Commonwealth Games 2018 with a throw of 86.47m and threw his personal best of 87.43m in the Doha leg of Diamond League 2018. He won the Asian Games with a throw of 88.06m, said the Indian Army statement. The javelin thrower created history on Saturday as he became the first athlete from the country to win a gold in a track and field event in the Olympics. He threw a distance of 87.58m to pick the gold at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj began his quest for the medal with a massive throw of 87.03 meters and was leading the pack after the end of first attempt. He bettered it with the second throw of 87.58m. While he wasn''t able to improve any further, it was enough to get him the coveted medal. He is now the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win a gold medal in individual events. India has now won seven medals in the multi-sporting event, its best-ever performance at the Olympics. Bajrang Punia (Bronze), Mirabai Chanu (silver), PV Sindhu (bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), men''s hockey team ( bronze), and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) have also won medals. (ANI)
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