As the entire nation slept soundly on a Sunday evening, on the other side of the world, the nation’s pride was getting ready to make history and wipe out our Monday blues. Our collective breath was taken away as Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made history with his first-ever victory and gave this good news.
Chopra’s golden arm performs like clockwork. On Sunday, he set a record by winning the men’s javelin throw final event at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the event. In his second attempt, the young man successfully threw his spear the farthest distance of the competition at 88.17 meters. With this result, Neeraj improved greatly upon his previous worlds performance (silver medal, 2022).
Neeraj Chopra Inks His Name In Golden Letters Once Again, Creates Massive History
The reigning Olympic gold medalist, Neeraj Chopra, did not get off to the best start in the final, finishing at 79m. Chopra obviously was not satisfied with the result, so he intentionally committed a foul in an attempt to get a better one. However, the Indian thrower saved his best performance for the final round, riding on the overwhelming support of the crowd. His usual style of celebrating started before the javelin had even touched down as he took his run.
Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem, a compatriot of Indian gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, came in second place with a distance of 87.82m. Bronze went to Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who threw 86.67m.
Kishore Jena and DP Manu, two other Indian javelin throwers who were in the running but ultimately fell short, also turned in stellar efforts. Both throwers made it into the top eight spots and placed in the middle of the pack, coming in at fifth and sixth overall. Manu threw an impressive 84.14m, but Jena had the record at 84.77m (his personal best).
Neeraj Chopra And His Midas Touch
Javelin thrower Chopra, currently ranked first in the world, won the Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2020 but settled for silver at last year’s world championships in Eugene, where Anderson Peters took first place. Anju Bobby George, who won bronze in the women’s long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, is the only other Indian to win a medal at the Games.
Neeraj only needed one throw in the qualifying round for the 2023 men’s javelin final to secure his spot in the Sunday final. The national hero qualified for the final on his first try thanks to a stellar 88.77-meter distance. After committing a foul on his opening throw in the championship match on Sunday, Neeraj went on to throw 88.17 meters, 86.32 meters, 84.64 meters, 87.73 meters, and 83.98 meters.
Conclusion
After the legendary Czech thrower, Jan Zelezny and the Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen, India’s superstar Javelin hurler Neeraj Chopra became only the third athlete in history to hold the Olympic and World Championships titles in the sport at the same time.
Zelezny won the World Championships in 1993, 1995, and 2001, in addition to the Olympic gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2000. Thorkildsen was crowned world champion in 2009 and won gold at the 2008 Olympics.
Chopra accomplished the impossible on Sunday, capturing every available championship in his sport. In addition to his four individual Diamond League Meeting Titles (two in 2022 and two in 2023) and the Diamond League Champion’s Trophy from the previous year, he also won gold at the Asian Games (2018) and the Commonwealth Games (2018).
In 2016, he won the junior championship, and in 2017, he took first place at the Asian Championships.
Watch his historic win here:
Source: The Hindu
