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"The greatest Indian athlete"- Indian Cricket fraternity hails Neeraj Chopra's historic achievement of winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics

Athletics - Olympics: Day 15
Athletics - Olympics: Day 15

Neeraj Chopra scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Indian athlete to win the gold medal at the event. With his stupendous efforts, he also ended India's 13 year-long wait to capture a gold medal in the Olympics.

Abhinav Bindra was the last Indian to win the prestigious gold medal for India. Bindra achieved the feat in shooting during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Coming to his performance today, the 23-year old Neeraj Chopra began the final with an incredible first throw of 87.03m to set the tone for the rest of the contest. None of the other competitors could better that until the conclusion of the event.

Neeraj Chopra himself surpassed that and recorded 87.58m to secure India's first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Olympics.

With his awe-inspiring win, Javelin champion Neeraj Chopra won billions of Indian hearts and made them proud with his memorable achievement. Several Indian cricketers took to social media to shower their much-deserved appreciation towards India's second individual gold medalist in Olympic history.

Messages of congratulations pour in for Neeraj Chopra from the Indian Cricket fraternity

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A post shared by Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)

Neeraj underwent surgery in 2019 for an injury, making his achievement even more remarkable

In May 2019, Neeraj Chopra faced a major setback as has to undergo surgery for an injury issue. After undergoing surgery, the javeline gold medalist said:

"Undergone elbow surgery in Mumbai by Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala. Will require some months of rehabilitation before I can start back with throwing. Hoping to return stronger. Every setback is a setup for a comeback. God wants to bring you out better than you were before."

After finishing rehabilitation, he made a comeback into the field and worked extremely hard for the Olympics. Two years later, he has rounded off his comeback journey with a monumental triumph at the Tokyo Olympics.

India's performance at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics is their best-ever overall at the event so far. They have won a total of 7 medals, including 4 bronze medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 gold medal. It is one more than their six medals tally in the 2012 Olympics.

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