Hopefully, he'll be watching this from the heavens: Neeraj Chopra dedicates Tokyo gold to Milkha Singh

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Tokyo, Aug 7: India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra dedicated his Tokyo Olympics gold medal to late Olympian Milkha Singh. The 23-year-old Haryana lad became the first-ever athlete to have won a medal for India in the track and field and dedicated it to one of India's greatest athletes of all time.

Milkha Singh passed away on June 18, earlier this year, in Chandigarh after losing the battle against Covid-19. Singh came agonisingly close to winning an Olympic medal for India in the 1960 Games when he finished 4th in the final of men's 400m. The 'Flying Sikh' always wanted to see an Indian finish the podium at the grandest stage on the planet but passed away little more than a month before the Tokyo Games began.

"I dedicate this medal to Milkha Singh. Hopefully, he'll be watching this from the heavens," Neeraj told the Indian media in Tokyo after the victory ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.

"Milkha Singh ji passed away and I felt very bad. I wanted to meet him with an Olympic medal. It is sad that he's not among us but I hope he's seeing us from above and is happy with this (medal) that his dream has come true. Even other athletes like PT Usha and others who missed out on a medal by centimetres - I hope they're all happy," Chopra added further.

Like Milkha Singh, Neeraj too is employed with the Indian Army. Neeraj serves as Naib Subedar in the Indian Army.

Late Milkha Singh's son Jeev Milkha tweeted an emotional post on his Twitter handle and said his father's dream of an Indian winning an Olympic medal finally came true.

"What a show @Neeraj_chopra1! Dad waited so many years for this to happen. His dream has finally come true with India's first athletic gold. I am crying as I tweet this. And I am sure dad is crying up above. Thank you for making this happen," tweeted Jeev Milkha - who is a professional golfer.

Reacting to the gold medal Neeraj claimed he was unsure of a top podium finish despite a remarkably confident performance. Chopra had topped the qualification three days ago and did better than that in the finals as he produced a best throw of 87.58m to become only the second Indian to win individual gold in Olympics.

"It feels unbelievable. It is the first time India has won gold in athletics, so I feel very good. We have just one gold here in other sports," the 23-year-old said after winning the historic gold.

"This is our first Olympic medal for a very long time, and in athletics, it is the first time we have gold, so it's a proud moment for me and my country," the golden boy from India added further.

Just like in the qualification round, Chopra began with a bang by sending the spear to a distance of 87.03m and then improved it to 87.58m, his best of the day which none in the field could match.

His third throw was a poor 76.76m, he then fouled his next two attempts before a final effort of 84.24m. By the time the Nordic javelin left his right hand in his second attempt, he knew that it was going the farthest among all and he raised both his arms in jubilation, confident that the job had been done.

Season leader and pre-tournament gold favourite Johannes Vetter of Germany, who had thrown the spear to 90m plus distances seven times between April and June, was shockingly eliminated after the first three throws as he was placed ninth with a best effort of 82.52m.

(With PTI inputs)