Festive celebrations have swept the country on Saturday evening as ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra created history by winning the nation its first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The medal holds special significance, given that it is the first medal by an Indian in over 100 years in the track and field Olympics. The last medal won by an Indian in athletics was way back in 1920.
Chopra’s historic Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics threw the country into ecstasy. Celebrations were seen in different parts of the country, especially Haryana, the home state of gold medalist Neeraj Chopra. Reactions on social media were no different as people congratulated the Olympian and expressed their gratitude for bringing a gold medal for the country.
While one would have assumed that Neeraj’s gold would be a moment of celebration for everyone in the country, there were some who were not quite pleased that the javelin thrower bagged a gold medal for India. These lot of people, who describe themselves as left-leaning, could not bring themselves to congratulate Chopra and celebrate his victory. The reason being Chopra’s old tweets where he was seen supporting their bête noire—Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Back in 2019, after PM Modi scripted history by once again coming back to power with an even greater majority in the 2019 general elections, Neeraj Chopra had posted a tweet congratulating the Prime Minister.
“My heartiest congratulations to our prime minister @narendramodi sir on this historic win. May our country achieve new heights under your leadership.#Election2019Results” Chopra had tweeted.
My heartiest congratulations to our prime minister @narendramodi sir on this historic win.May our country achieve new heights under your leadership.#Election2019Results
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) May 24, 2019
After Chopra won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, his old tweets started doing the rounds on the internet. One of the tweets that were widely being shared was his congratulatory message for PM Modi after his reelection to centre in the Lok Sabha 2019 elections. And this did not sit well with the self-described left-leaning ‘liberals’ in India, who were quick to “cancel” the Olympic gold medalist.
Liberals have a meltdown after Neeraj Chopra won Gold medal at Tokyo Olympics
Journalist Rohini Singh perhaps found it incredibly difficult to fathom the fact that Neeraj Chopra was a PM Modi supporter.
Another Twitter user, presumably a cross between a Nazi and a feminist, said that celebrating Indian men, especially “Sanghi men like Neeraj Chopra” is embarrassing.
There were others too, who were upset that a “Sanghi” had won a gold medal at the Olympics.
Others called for cancelling the Olympic gold medalist because he stood up for a Hindu arrested in Australia.
Neeraj Chopra creates history by winning a gold medal at Tokyo Olympics
Neeraj Chopra has created history by winning the first athletic medal for India in a century. Neeraj Chopra has won the Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the Javelin Throw event on Saturday. In doing so, he ended India’s century-long wait for an Olympic medal in athletics.
The last Indian medal in athletics came in 1920. Neeraj Chopra had topped the qualifying round with an 86.59-meter throw, which he registered in his first attempt. On Saturday’s finals, Chopra scored a whopping 87.03 meters in the first throw and 87.58 meters in the second. His other throws could not match his feat in the first two rounds but they did not need to. His second throw was enough to win him the Olympic Gold.
