Asian Games: Neeraj bags gold, Kishore silver, in men’s javelin despite official blunders

Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra defended his Asian Games gold while Kishore Jena ended with silver, at the Asian Games on Wednesday, 4 October.

It was Chopra's fourth throw of 88.88 m, a season’s best, that was good enough to seal the gold. Compatriot Jena claimed silver with a personal best of 87.54 m.

However, a major controversy erupted after Neeraj's first throw, which looked to have landed beyond the 85 m mark but was not counted. After a lengthy discussion between officials and Neeraj, it was decided that the Indian should re-throw his first attempt owing to a 'technical glitch'.

The glitch happened yet again, and this time it was Jena who was shown a red flag in his second throw for crossing the throwing line, though he didn't cross the line. After a discussion with officials, he was shown the white flag.

It is believed that such incidents were reported from other events too, and India may lodge a protest against the Games referees.