Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold-winning feat in the Olympics was listed as one of the 10 magical moments of track and field in the Tokyo Games by the World Athletics.
The 23-year-old clinched India's maiden Olympic medal in athletics with a best throw of 87.58 m last week to become only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Games.
“Most keen followers of the sport had heard of Neeraj Chopra before the Olympic Games. But after winning the javelin in Tokyo, and in the process becoming India’s first athletics gold medalist in Olympic history, Neeraj’s profile sky-rocketed,” the global sports governing body said on its website.
The World Athletics noted that Neeraj had 1,43,000 followers on Instagram before the Olympics, but now has a staggering 3.2 million followers, making him the most followed track and field athlete in the world.
In a tweet posted after winning the gold in Tokyo, Neeraj said, “Still processing this feeling. To all of India and beyond, thank you so much for your support and blessings that have helped me reach this stage. This moment will live with me forever.”
Neeraj 2nd in world rankings
Neeraj gained a whopping 14 places to occupy the second spot in the men’s javelin throw world rankings after his historic gold in the Tokyo Games. The 23-year-old was at a lowly 16 before the Tokyo Games with an average performance score of 1,224. But in the latest rankings issued by World Athletics, Chopra found himself at the second spot with 1,315 average performance score behind German Johannes Vetter (1396), who finished a lowly ninth in the Olympics final after coming into the Games as the gold medal contender.
Neeraj collected 1,296 performance points for topping the Olympic qualification round on August 4 and 1,559 points for winning the gold in the final. Three other events of this year -- Federation Cup, Indian Grand Prix-3 and Kuortane Games (Finland) --where he had come up with big throws were also considered in the ranking process. Vetter, however, remained on top of the world rankings despite failing to make it to the last eight in the Olympic finals.
