Controversy Mars Hangzhou Asian Games Track and Field Competition as Neeraj Chopra’s First Throw Goes Unrecorded

Introduction: The Hangzhou Asian Games witnessed another controversy in its track and field competition as officials failed to record Neeraj Chopra’s “good” first throw. Despite eventually securing the gold medal with an impressive 88.88-meter effort, Chopra’s initial throw confusion raised concerns about a potential gold medal loss.

Confusion in Chopra’s First Throw: Neeraj Chopra was the second athlete to throw in the final. His initial throw appeared substantial, comfortably exceeding 85 meters. However, his distance was not immediately displayed on the digital board. Before the issue could be resolved, the next athlete initiated their throw.

Despite this, Chopra’s name persisted on the digital board and the official online information and results service of the Games, indicating he had not completed his first throw. A perplexing delay ensued, with officials entering discussions on the matter. Chopra, confident in his “good throw,” approached them to protest the situation.

“I also don’t know what happened,” he expressed to reporters. “I fought (protested my case) with them because it was a good throw. And I asked them what happened, what happened? I went there six times.”

After several minutes, a group of officials assembled near the area where Chopra’s javelin had landed, probing various spots with their feet to locate the mark.

“I wanted to understand what had happened,” Chopra explained.

“They kept looking for the mark but they didn’t find it. It felt like a great throw to me. I’ll watch the video later; I don’t know how much it was, but I’m told that it was really good.

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“So I was a little disappointed because it was a good throw, and there was a good wind behind me as well.”

Chopra speculated that there might have been a technical issue or that they had not finished measuring his first throw when the next athlete made their attempt.

“They said they would let me have another first throw after that. I didn’t have any other choice as it was disturbing the other competitors too. It was windy, and everyone was cooling down, so I said I’ll do my first throw again.”

Chopra noted that despite the confusion, he threw a total of seven times, exceeding the usual limit of six throws.

Neither Chopra nor his coach, Klaus Bartonietz, had encountered such an incident in competition before.

“We just noticed that no result, no result because they took it out and measured again the other one…shit happens,” Bartonietz commented.

“In the training, results were promising, so we know what he can do, and he did it. But then they, with this other guy running in just messed it up.

“They are also unhappy with this. It’s not good for their reputation,” he added, referring to the officials.

Additional Incidents in the Games: This recent controversy follows other incidents in the Hangzhou Asian Games, including a protest by China’s Wu Yanni in the women’s 100m hurdles final and an unfortunate incident involving an athletics official who suffered a broken leg and severe bleeding after being struck by a misdirected hammer throw.