Neeraj Chopra fell short of retaining his gold medal in the men’s javelin throw at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, securing silver with a best throw of 89.45 meters.
Chopra’s best throw came on his second attempt, but he struggled with four consecutive foul throws, which prevented him from winning gold.
After post-independence, Neeraj Chopra became the second male athlete to win two Olympic medals in an individual event.
His first and third attempts were invalidated by red flags, and his final three attempts were also fouls.
Despite his strong performance in the qualification round, where he threw 89.34 meters, Chopra could not surpass his season best in the final.
His 89.45-meter throw was his second-best performance but not enough to retain his gold.
He looked under pressure before taking the run and the Indian javelin thrower crossed the line once again and was given a red flag in his fifth attempt. His last and sixth attempt was also disqualified after he crossed the line while throwing.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won gold with a throw of 92.97 meters, breaking the previous Olympic record held by Denmark’s Andreas Thorkildsen in Beijing in 2008.
Nadeem’s performance included a final attempt of 91.79 meters, demonstrating his dominance in the event. On his second try, Nadeem hit a throw of 92.97m to win gold in the men’s javelin throw final.
Nadeem was in full form as he crossed the 90m mark in his sixth attempt. He touched 91.79m on his sixth try.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters secured the bronze with an 88.54 meters throw.
Earlier, Chopra had registered a throw of 89.34 meters in the Group B qualification round, which was his second-best all-time throw.
Despite a healthy rivalry with Nadeem, with Chopra leading 9-0 in their head-to-head, Nadeem’s best throw of 90.18 meters at the 2022 Commonwealth Games surpassed Chopra’s top effort.