Sand Artist Manas Kumar wishes luck to athlete Neeraj Chopra to bring gold medal to India

Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will look to finish on top of the podium at the Tokyo Olympics when he takes the field on Saturday, August 7 to take part in the final of the men's event. Chopra qualified for the final after he threw a monstrous throw of 86.65m on Thursday in the preliminary round for Group A participants. 

Sand Artist Manas Kumar wishes luck to athlete Neeraj Chopra to bring India gold Olympic medal 

After his big achievement in the sport, wishes have been pouring from across the country, in the favour of the ‘Olympic hero’. To celebrate his success and to boost his confidence Neeraj, Odisha’s sand artist Manas Sahoo sculpted a tribute. The artist displayed his best wishes to Neeraj through the beautiful sand art piece and wrote, “India waiting for gold”. A tweet shared by ANI showed the massive sand art illustration on Neeraj Chopra. 

All Eyes On Neeraj Chopra To End India's 100-year Wait For Medal In Athletics

A pre-tournament medal contender, the 23-year-old Chopra fuelled the country's expectations by topping the qualification round with a stunning first-round throw of 86.59m. As Neeraj Chopra eyes gold in Saturday's final, he will be up against his admirer from the neighbouring country i.e. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem. Three track and field athletes were part of the five-member Indian team at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Since then, no Indian has won a medal in athletics.

A farmer's son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana who took up athletics to shed flab, Chopra can script history by winning the elusive medal. "I am at my first Olympic Games, and I feel very good. In the warm-up, my performance wasn't so good, but then (in the qualifying round) my first throw had a good angle and was a perfect throw," Chopra had said after the qualifying round on Wednesday.

"I will need to focus on the throw, and try to repeat this (performance) with a higher score," said the youngster who came into the Olympics with the fourth-best throw (88.07m) this year. Chopra's performance on Saturday was one of the best performances by an Indian in the Olympics, as he finished ahead of gold-medal favorite and 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany.

With PTI Inputs
Image: ANI