Asian Games 2023: On a dramatic night, Neeraj Chopra shines brightest
There was controversy, there was confusion, there was a competitor throwing down the gauntlet but the India's greatest athlete found a way to overcome it all
It all seemed pre-ordained long before Neeraj Chopra had landed in Hangzhou. Winning the gold was never in doubt; the question was how far an athlete, turning up in his season finale with a groin niggle, will go to defend his title.
Chopra's spear went the farthest it had gone this season, giving him his second Asian Games title on the trot. The winning throw of 88.88m was his fourth 88m-plus throw of the year and added a fresh chapter to his enduring, untiring legend.
The script ended the way it was supposed to, but the way it played out is why all of us watch sport. Chopra was introduced to the teeming stadium by the announcers with much fanfare, but as has been the case with all Indian athletes thus far, the reigning world and Olympic champion was barely acknowledged by the crowd.
The competition began with Chinese-Taipei's Chao-Tsun Cheng's fouling the first attempt before Chopra came charging on the runway and ripped a brilliant opening effort. The white flag went up, indicating a legitimate effort as Chopra's title defence went underway.
The Indian knew it was a good throw the moment his spear left him, turning his back to the airborne javelin and raising his right arm in celebration in what appeared to be a familiar 'one and done' routine. The javelin soared in the cloudless sky, and as it came searing down, the spectators turned their focus from the ongoing high jump competition and gaped at the centre of the field in wonder.
The 75m line was left behind, as was the 85m mark and a thunderous applause greeted the javelin as it pierced the ground. Soon, Kuwait's Abdulrahman Alazemi attempted his first throw, a 71.41m effort. Meanwhile, all eyes remained fixed on the giant screen, waiting for Chopra's distance. It showed nothing.
The Games' official website didn't show the distance either and one realised that something was amiss when Chopra was seen walking towards the technical officials. For over 10 minutes, the play was held up as Chopra was seen in an animated discussion with the officials. Soon, news began to trickle in over a possible technical glitch in the measuring device. Later, it was discovered that the technical officials had bizarrely failed to locate the mark of Chopra's opening throw, which meant his throw could not be measured.
"The first throw looked good. I'll have to look at the video again to see how far it might have gone. Surprisingly, they didn't measure. I am still puzzled, apparently, the next athlete threw before they could even measure my throw and they lost the mark then. I protested but then it was windy and other athletes were cooling down. Making them wait would have been unfair on them," the 25-year-old said.
The officials offered Chopra to redo his opening throw for which he reluctantly agreed. The opening throw, technically his second, read a modest 82.38m before Chopra cranked it up to 84.49m in his next effort. "It was my season ender and the body was already broken which is why I was reluctant to accept their offer of redoing my first throw," he said.
The Indian officials were not impressed as the inexplicable lapse followed the much-publicised disqualification of 100m hurdler Jyothi Yarraji on Sunday. Yarraji protested the decision too and eventually won a silver -- upgraded from the bronze -- after China's Yanni Wu was disqualified for a false start.
Athletics Federation of India's senior vice-president and former long jumper Anju Bobby George claimed the Indian side will lodge an official protest against the erring officials. Recounting a number of contentious calls by technical officials in recent athletics events, Anju termed it an attempt to "cheat' India.
"I think all that happened was calculated. They are trying to cheat us and disturb our athletes," Anju said.
"On Tuesday, Annu Rani's first throw wasn't measured either. They measured it after five minutes. The same happened with Jyothi and the same happened in the 35km race walk this morning where Manju Rani was served two warnings for technical violation in the last kilometre. The other day, I felt Murali Sreeshankar jumped much better than 8.19m. On one of his jumps, they raised a red flag, which I think was not a foul. I don't know what's wrong with the officiating here," Anju fumed.
The debatable calls were not limited to Chopra alone as Kishore Jena was fouled for overstepping on his second throw. The decision was later reversed and Jena's 79.76m attempt was registered.
"Jena's throw was given a foul but his foot was inches behind the line. We don't know what's going on here," Anju said. AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said, "Everything that is needed to be done has been done."
Chopra and Jena were actually bemused. "It's the first time something like this has happened with me in a competition this big. It happened with Jyothi, me, and Jena. So there's something wrong but still, we have shown how hard we've worked and won medals. I haven't seen anything like this in a big tournament. Such incidents can hit you mentally ahead of the event and even Jyothi was affected," he said.
"There was a lot of confusion. No one knew what was happening. I am new to the international circuit but I haven't seen anything like this in India," said Jena.
The confusion had Indian journalists and officials running helter-skelter for clarification, but nothing came from the Chinese. "We haven't heard anything from them. What explanation do they have anyway?" said Anju.
The controversy, though, must not rob the competition for what it truly was -- a glorious exhibition of India's javelin prowess. Jena passed his personal best twice in two throws, hitting 86.77m in his third go and following it with 87.54m. The third throw earned Jena a direct entry to next year's Paris Olympics -- the qualification mark is set at 85.50m -- and temporarily put him on top of the pile.
Chopra responded with an 88.88m throw to take back the lead but Jena came up with an 87.54m stunner, an indication of his growing pedigree.
"It was fun going one one-on-one with Jena. He kept pushing me, otherwise, I may not have done my season best today. Aaj maza aa gaya. So, thanks Jena," Chopra chuckled.
Jena humbly replied, "Mujhe pata tha bhai saab maar hi denge (I knew he would throw farther than me come what may)."
As it turned out, Jena was not mistaken. Among the 54 medallists that the sport has had over the past 18 editions, only eight have won a javelin medal more than once. Some, like Pakistan's Muhammad Nawaz (1954,'58, 62) and Japan's Yukifumi Murakami (2002, '06, '10) have done it thrice, and one has to go back 65 years to find the last -- and hitherto the only instance -- of a men's javelin title being defended at the Asian Games. That was until Chopra came along on a beautiful Thursday evening in Hangzhou to send his spear flying into history.