Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Neeraj Chopra wins historic Olympic gold in athletics

Neeraj Chopra has created history by winning India's first Olympic gold in athletics

India has broken out into celebrations after Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a historic Olympic gold medal in athletics (javelin throw) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, 23, registered a best throw of 87.58m on Saturday.

The Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch won silver with 86.67m, while compatriot Vitezslav Vesely took bronze (85.44m).

"It feels unbelievable," said Chopra. "It's a proud moment for me and my country."

He is only the second Indian to win an individual gold after Abhinav Bindra in the 10m air rifle event at Beijing 2008.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Chopra on Twitter, saying that history had been created.

Chopra's gold was India's seventh medal - one gold, two silver and four bronze - in Tokyo, their best ever Olympic haul having passed the six they won at London 2012.

• Neeraj Chopra wins India's first athletics gold in men's javelin

It has been a good week for the country at the Olympics - on Saturday, wrestler Bajrang Punia added to the medal haul by defeating Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov, 8-0 in their bronze medal bout.

On Wednesday, Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya won an Olympic silver medal after he lost to Zavur Uguev of the Russian Olympic Committee in the men's freestyle 57kg final.

The 23-year-old wrestler beat Sanayev Nurislam of Kazakhstan in a dramatic semi-final that saw him overcome a 9-2 lead with two minutes to spare, achieving victory by fall.

In wrestling, if a wrestler touches the opponent's shoulder to the mat, then the victory is considered as a win by fall.

On Thursday, India ended a 41-year men's hockey medal drought when it beat Germany in a thrilling match to win bronze.

India made history on Thursday when it won bronze in men's hockey

Weightlifting champion Mirabai Chanu won India's first medal in Tokyo, a silver, in the women's 49kg category, putting to rest the disappointment of the Rio Olympics in 2016 where she was knocked out after a freak injury.

PV Sindhu is first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals.

India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu won bronze after beating China's He Bing Jiao, becoming the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals. She won her first Olympic medal - a silver - at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The women's hockey team created history by beating Australia 1-0. The team went through to the Olympic semi-finals for the first time in history after the Rani Rampal-led side took the lead in the 22nd minute and defended it fiercely.

The women's team advanced to the Olympic semi-finals for the first time in history but lost

But the team were defeated by Argentina. On Friday, they missed out on a bronze medal when they lost to Great Britain in a nip-and tuck-battle. Nonetheless, they made history - previously, India's best result was a fourth-place finish at the 1980 Olympics.

Boxer Lovlina Borgohain had assured India of another medal - a bronze after she beat Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei to enter the semi-finals. In boxing, there is no third-place match. Both semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals.

Borgohain won that bronze when she lost to Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, 5-0. Her bronze makes her the third Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal.

Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze for India at Tokyo

The big misses for India's Olympic hopes

Wrestling

Vinesh Phogat's chance at Olympic gold ended on Thursday with a shocking 9-2 defeat to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus in the women's 53 kg quarter-final.

Vinesh Phogat's Olympic gold dreams ended after her defeat in the quarterfinals

The 26-year-old will return from the Tokyo Olympics without a medal after she missed out on the repechage round - a rule that allows athletes who failed to reach qualifications by a small margin to continue to the next round.

In wrestling it allows wrestlers to get a shot at a third-place match, the idea being that a worthy competitor not lose out just because they got a tough early draw.

Shooting

India's 15-member shooting contingent was the favourite to bring back a big haul of medals but that did not go according to the plan. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, favourites for a podium finish in the mixed 10m Air Pistol event, crashed out in the second qualification stage in Tokyo.

Manu Bhaker suffered a pistol malfunction and crashed out as time and pressure built up

Bhaker, pegged as a certain medal prospect even before the Games started, failed to reach the finals in any of her three events. She had a pistol malfunction in the 10m women's air pistol event, leading to more pressure as she lost time.

In the men's 10m air pistol event Saurabh Chaudhary, world No.2 and Youth Olympic champion, qualified for the final but failed to finish in the top three positions.

India's medal tally at recent Olympics:

• 2016 Rio Olympics: 1 Silver, 1 Bronze

• 2012 London Olympics: 2 Silver, 4 Bronze

• 2008 Beijing Olympics: 1 Gold, 2 Bronze

India has won a total of 28 medals since 1900 - 11 from hockey, five from wrestling, four from shooting, two each in badminton, boxing and athletics, and one each in tennis and weightlifting.

Boxing

Despite losing out on a second Olympic medal, Mary Kom is a winner for many Indians.

Mary Kom initially thought she had won the bout and was all smiles but later learnt that she had lost 3-2.

She made a heart-breaking exit from the Olympics after losing to Ingrit Victoria Valencia of Colombia in her flyweight section (51kg) bout.

She initially thought she had won and was shocked to later learn from social media that she had indeed lost the match. Losing on a 3-2 split decision verdict despite winning two of the three rounds left the boxer confused.

She won a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.

Deepika Kumari is the number one ranked recurve woman in the world

Archery

Deepika Kumari, the world No.1 in the women's recurve category, crashed out of the quarterfinals in Tokyo, losing to Korean An San in straight sets.

This was her third Olympic outing for India, having lost in the quarters in Rio in 2016, and in London in 2012.

Her husband, Atanu Das, also crashed out of the Olympics after losing to home favourite Takaharu Furukawa, an individual silver medallist at the 2012 Olympics, in a pre-quarterfinal clash.