Tokyo Olympics: Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra qualifies for men's final in first attempt

Indian Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra announced his debut at the Tokyo Olympics in some style by qualifying for the Javelin Throw final in his very first attempt. Chopra was placed in Group A and had to achieve the qualification mark of 83.50 to progress to the next round. Neeraj Chopra who was throwing the javelin in 15th position in the group threw a monstrous throw of 86.65m and automatically qualified for the final after just his first attempt. Another Indian athlete Shivpal Singh will also be in action in the Javelin throw event.

Tokyo Olympics: Neeraj Chopra qualifies for the final 

Earlier on Tuesday, another Indian Javelin thrower Annu Rani failed to qualify for the women's final here at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday after an underwhelming show in the Women's Long Throws Qualification -- Group A.  Neeraj Chopra is pitted in Group A along with A.M. Novac (Romania), I. El Sayed (Egypt), S.F. Huang (Chinese Taipei), J. Vetter (Germany), R. van Rooyen (South Africa), N. Rivasz-Toth (Hungary), T. Kuusela (Finland), P. Mialeshka (Belarus), E. Matusevicius (Lithuania), M. Shuey (United States), K. Amb (Sweden), C. Mrzyglod (Poland), V. Veselý (Czech Republic), L. Etelatalo (Finland) and G. Cakss (Latvia).  Apart from Chopra, Finland's Lassi Etelatalo was another thrower who automatically qualified in the first attempt. 

"I am at my first Olympic Games, and I feel very good. In 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 said after his event.

Chopra is, however, under no illusion that the final will be a totally different contest where the world's best will go for podium finish. "It will be a different feeling (in the finals), since it is my first time in the Olympics. Physically we (all) train hard, and are ready, but I also need to prepare mentally. I will need to focus on the throw, and try to repeat this (performance) with a higher score," he said.

A farmer's son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana who took up athletics to shed flab, Chopra left the javelin arena after his first throw, having secured his place in the final easily.

He reiterated that the build-up to the Olympics was difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Last year was very difficult, because we were ready for the Olympics, and due to coronavirus everything was closed. We felt a little sad, but after we started training regularly. We need to train every day, so it was difficult.

"But when Japan said they could do the Olympics, we prepared our mind and trained very hard."

Tokyo Olympics: How does the qualification work?

The first phase of the event will see the throwers divided into two groups each and each thrower will have three attempts and the top 12 athletes will advance to the finals. The athlete touching the Qualifying performance of 83.50 (Q)  or at least 12 best performers (q) will advance to the final of the men's javelin throw. In the second phase, the throwers will once again get three attempts each with the best eight getting another three. The top three will be decided by the javelin thrower with the longest throw across six attempts in the second phase and the athlete with the longest throw wins the gold medal followed by a silver and bronze, respectively. The Group B qualification round will take place later in the day and the remaining throws of Group A are also happening. The men's Javelin throw final will be on August 7 at the Olympic Stadium. 

(With ANI Inputs)

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