Neeraj Chopra’s javelin pierces through years of disillusionment at Tokyo

The name will be immortalised in the echelons of Indian sports. The man himself seemed to know it as soon as the throw that brought him gold, left his hand. The way he immediately turned towards the stands, arms raised towards the heavens, betrayed both elation and relief.

Gold in javelin throw! India’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics couldn’t have ended in a better way; two medals — wrestler Bajrang Punia won a bronze 90 minutes before Neeraj’s — in one day. A best-ever haul with seven medals, including a gold. And that gold — in athletics where India has never been able to make a mark — is perhaps the biggest achievement Indian sport has ever witnessed.

The spear Neeraj threw pierced through years of disillusionment that a medal-deprived country had to endure. It sailed over an era of underachievement and inconsequentiality, as dark as the Tokyo sky that silently egged it on, and broke ground in a new land of promise. No matter where you were born or what sport you pursued, the spear carried with it hope and belief.

This is not India’s first individual gold, Abhinav Bindra brought that home 13 years ago. But athletics is the grandest of stages at the Olympics. There are no freak wins here, not in track and field. The legendary Milkha Singh and indomitable PT Usha came close, but a medal never hung around their necks. They lost by the slimmest of margins. Neeraj exorcised those demons.