[Watch] Neeraj Chopra saves the Indian flag from touching the ground
Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra added another feather to his cap when he successfully defended his Asian Games gold in Hangzhou on October 4, Wednesday. The golden boy of India threw his season best of 88.88m to top the charts and again to take home the gold medal.
Although the Olympic champion had to endure a bizarre start when he had to retake his first throw, he came back into the competition and managed to win gold in a remarkable fashion. Throughout the event, it became apparent that Neeraj’s main rival was his own compatriot, Kishore Jena.
The man from Odisha surprised everyone when he took the lead in the early rounds and stood above Neeraj at the top spot. Neeraj, nevertheless, managed to fight off a challenge from his fellow countryman to win gold.
Despite this, the two supported each other throughout- cheering and supporting one another. The most heartwarming moment was witnessed when they both were celebrating and Neeraj requested an Indian flag from the crowd. In order to avoid the Indian tri-color falling to the ground, Neeraj stepped out of his way to catch the flag.
Watch the video here:
As seen in the video, an Indian flag is thrown towards Neeraj Chopra so he can celebrate alongside Jena and the gold-winning Indian men's 4x400m relay team. The flag seemed a bit far for Neeraj to fetch, but to save it from falling on the ground, he jumped out of his way to catch the flag on time.
Neeraj Chopra shows leadership against biased Chinese officials
The Chinese officials continued to show poor decision-making, especially against Indian athletes. Earlier, Neeraj Chopra had to retake his first throw when the Chinese officials failed to measure his first throw.
Later Kishore Jena’s second throw was declared illegal despite the fact he was well and truly behind the line. Neeraj stepped and confronted the officials and they had to count the throw.
This was followed by a pattern of wrong decisions made against Indian athletes. Jyothi Yarraji was wrongly disqualified for a false start (later overturned) and boxer Sachin Swiach was knocked out under controversial circumstances.