Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem.
Credit: PTI
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win two successive Olympic medals with a silver in men's javelin throw.
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold as he managed 92.97m in his second attempt to set the bar too high for the rest of the field. Chopra made just one legitimate throw -- the silver-winning 89.45m in the second round.
Chopra became only the third Indian and the first in track and field to win back-to-back individual Olympic medals.
Neeraj's father said that he is happy that he won the silver medal, and that the nation's blessings are with him.
"The environment is joyful in the entire nation, we are very happy that we have won silver medal. This is the hard work of that boy and the nation's blessing is with him that he won medal for the second time," Chopra's father Satish Kumar said.
His mother Saroj Devi also expressed her happiness and said, "We are extremely happy, he did his best despite the tough competition. It's not about winning a gold or silver, but about winning a medal, and he did his best."
Referring to Nadeem's wins, his mother said that he is also like their 'son'.
"We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold is also like our son. He was injured, so we are happy with his performance. I will cook his favourite food," she said, as reported by ANI.
His grandmother, Dharm Singh Chopra also reacted to his victory and said that he has given his best performance.
"He has given his best performance and won silver, adding one more medal to the country," she said.
In Neeraj's neighbourhood, a big screen was arranged for people to watch the game, and sweets were distributed after he won silver.
(With PTI inputs)