The men’s javelin final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou witnessed a delay after Neeraj Chopra made his first attempt
While officials were still in the process of measuring Neeraj’s throw, the next competitor - Kuwaiti thrower Abdulrahman Alazemi - threw quickly after.
Neeraj’s throw looked like it landed beyond the 85m mark, however due to the marks being confused, the competition kept getting delayed with no resolution in sight.
“I was standing there for a long time saying measure my throw. After a point I realised there’s no point in arguing and other athletes were also waiting for their turn,” Neeraj said after the event.
Officials then offered to let Neeraj to redo his first attempt to which he agreed. Neeraj managed a throw of 82.38m and led the pack for a few rounds after that.
Neeraj was not the only one to see issues in his event. Kishore Jena’s second throw was also deemed a foul despite the thrower finishing his runup inside the white line.
While Kishore stood wondering what had gone wrong with his throw, Neeraj backed him up, urging Kishore to take up the issue with the officials and then throw was deemed legal.
On his third throw, Kishore went ahead of Neeraj with a throw of 86.77m, putting him provisionally in the gold medal position.
Neeraj reclaimed the lead with a massive 88.88m which turned out to be the best throw of his season. Kishore could not surpass that mark, giving India a 1-2 in the men’s javelin podium.
The duo both spoke about how unusual the series of events from the final were. Neeraj said, “Gadbad toh hai” as he called for another look into the matter.
Meanwhile, it was a successful day in the office for Kishore Jena who registered his personal best (87.54m) and secured his ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.