Javelin throw: India's Neeraj Chopra flings 88.88m, catches gold

Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou

Truly a night of matchless weirdness and madness, but it ended with a sense of normalcy — Neeraj Chopra had the gold medal on his chest, and all was well with the world, which seemed to have gone mad an hour previously.

Jena’s Silver feat

• Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra becomes only the 2nd man in Asian Games history to defend his gold in the javelin throw event
• Chopra’s compatriot Kishore Jena takes silver

88.88, 80: These numbers stood out for India on a crazy night — the organisers failed to figure out how far Chopra had thrown the javelin in his first attempt! The Asian Games have been a stage for China to display its breathtaking technological advancements — failure to measure the distance between two points less than 90m apart, thus, simply boggles the mind.

Archers strike gold

Archers Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam win India’s maiden gold in compound mixed team event

Chopra, thus, was forced to throw the javelin seven times instead of the customary six; more weirdness ensued when Kishore Jena, who practically worships Chopra, led the field after three throws — with a best of 86.77 metres to Chopra’s 84.49m.

That, said Chopra later, fired him. “That throw by Jena warmed me up, because I was feeling a bit down after the first attempt, which was ruled out… So, thank you Jena bhai!” Chopra, whose fourth throw secured gold at 88.88m, said later.

Lightning speed

The Indian men’s 4x400m relay team wins the gold medal for the first time after 61 years

Also on Wednesday, India breached the 80-medal mark for the first time in the Asian Games; the number now stands at 81, an all-time record, 11 more than the mark of 70 achieved five years ago in Jakarta. With several more medals assured — including at least silver in hockey and cricket — 90 seems a real possibility.

Chopra’s first throw of the evening was big — it comfortably sailed over line that marks 85m on the field. But then came a period of drama caused by rare ineptness — before Chopra’s mark could be measured, another athlete was allowed to throw! The marks where their javelins landed were mixed up, apparently — which is weird, because Chopra’s throw was massive, and no one in the field could have come anywhere close.

Chopra argued and argued, but his mark was lost. “They didn’t measure it properly. The next athlete threw quickly after me, and then they lost the mark,” Chopra said later.

“For a while they kept searching... I knew it was a good throw… and I protested, but it was breezy and other athletes were in danger of their bodies getting cold, so it was unfair on them. The organisers then offered me a re-throw, and I accepted,” Chopra said.

India’s third gold today was brought in by the quartet of Muhammed Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh, in men’s 4x400m — no surprise there.

The real thrill of the evening was provided by a breathtaking escape to silver by Harmilan Bains, who won her second silver with a stunning surge in the final 15-odd metres in the women’s 800m final. For most of the race, Hoshiarpur’s Harmilan was struck in the back, trapped between athletes in front, right and back of her — there seemed to be no way out. “It was so, so hard. Honestly, I don’t know how I did that,” she said. “I was like — ‘I have to break out of this bunch.’ I kept trying with my hands, as everyone was trying to do that.” But she broke through, finding space, making room by using her arms and shoulders, and slowly chasing down four competitors.

She passed one, two, three, four others — she now had China’s Liu Dong in her sights. “I told myself — Milan, keep moving, just keep moving!” she said. With about 15 metres to go, Harmilan shot past the Chinese girl, ensuring herself of a silver in 2 minutes, 3.75 seconds, 0.55s behind Sri Lanka’s Tharushi Dissanayaka.

She now has two silver medals — one more than her mother Madhuri, who won hers 21 years ago in Busan. The daughter is suitably pleased: “I’ll tell her I have one medal more than her!”

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