Neeraj Chopra settled for a disappointing silver at the Paris Olympics and missed the opportunity to become the first athlete from India to win two Olympic gold medals in individual sports. He was surpassed by Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who bagged the gold setting a new Olympic record with a throw of 92.97 meters.
Neeraj's best throw, which he achieved on his second attempt, came up to 89.45 meters winning him a silver. The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist could only manage one legal throw, however, that was sufficient for a second-placed finish. He was under pressure after Nadeem broke the record, finishing with two throws above the 90-meter mark. Grenada's Anderson Peters won the bronze medal.
The event was notable for the first-ever 1-2 finish for India and Pakistan on the Olympic podium in men's javelin, a sport traditionally dominated by European athletes. This result reversed the order from the World Championships last year, where Neeraj Chopra took gold and Arshad Nadeem silver.
Chopra, who made history as the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event at Tokyo with a throw of 87.58 meters, joined an elite group of Indian athletes, including Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu, and Manu Bhaker, who have won more than one individual Olympic medal.
Arshad Nadeem became only the third man to achieve two 90-plus meter throws in a single day, following in the footsteps of Germany's Johannes Vetter and Anderson Peters.
Neeraj Chopra struggled with consistency, fouling five of his attempts in the final. Nadeem's record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters, which shattered Andreas Thorkildsen's 2008 Olympic record of 90.57 meters, placed significant pressure on the Indian athlete.
The men's final, held at Stade de France, featured a highly competitive field, with five throwers surpassing Chopra's Tokyo gold-medal distance of 87.58 meters. Arshad Nadeem's gold medal marked Pakistan's first-ever Olympic gold in an individual event. Jakub Vadlejch, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, finished fourth.
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters claimed the bronze with a throw of 88.54 meters, securing his first Olympic medal. Other notable performances included Rio Olympics silver medalist Yulius Yego, who finished fifth, and Julian Weber, who once again missed the podium after finishing fourth in Rio and Tokyo. London Olympics bronze medalist Keshorn Walcott ended the competition in seventh place with a best effort of 86.16 meters.
