In Budapest, Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw final competition. He set an event record with his second throw, which traveled 88.17 meters. Chopra’s performance was better than the one that earned him the silver medal at the 2022 World Championship.
Pakistani national Arshad Nadeem came in second, while Czech Republic Jakub Vadlejch won third place. Kishore Jena and DP Manu, two Indian javelin throwers, also performed strongly but failed to take home any medals. Chopra is the third person in history to hold Olympic and World Championship titles in the simultaneous year.
World Athletics Championships gold medalist Neeraj Chopra makes history
Neeraj needed just one throw to secure his spot in the men’s javelin final qualifying round for the 2023 competition. The Olympic champion automatically qualified for the final after clocking an outstanding 88.77m on his first attempt.
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Neeraj Chopra succeeded in another historic feat
At the men’s javelin throw final competition in Budapest on Sunday, Neeraj Chopra accomplished another historic feat by becoming the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal.
In the final, Chopra’s second attempt saw him throw the javelin 88.17 meters, which stood as the event record. Neeraj’s performance marked improvement over his silver medal performance at the Worlds in 2022.
Chopra didn’t get off to the best start
In the final, the defending Olympic gold medalist didn’t get off to the best start, only getting 79 meters; Neeraj was not pleased with the throw and decided not to count the score, so he crossed the line to compel a foul.
World Athletics Championships result
The Indian thrower saved his best throws for the second attempt in the championship; riding on massive crowd support, Chopra took his run and, in typical fashion, celebrated even before the throw came down.
A Pakistani national, Arshad Nadeem, came in second place and missed the gold medal. He measured 87.82 metres. Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic won third place with 86.67m.
The other two Indian javelin throwers in the running, Kishore Jena and DP Manu, also displayed strong performances, although they didn’t get any medals. Both throwers placed fifth and sixth after qualifying for the top-8 spots. Manu threw 84.14 meters, while Jena had the highest throw at 84.77 meters (also his personal best).
Neeraj Chopra writes history
After the legendary Czech throwers Jan Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen, India’s star javelin thrower is now just the third person in history to hold both the Olympic and World Championship titles in the simultaneous year.
About Neeraj Chopra
Chopra currently ranked No. 1 in the world for the javelin throw, won the Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020 but only took home silver at the world championships in Eugene the previous year because Anderson Peters had already won the event.
Anju Bobby George, who won bronze in the women’s long jump event in Paris in 2003, was the only Indian to take a medal from the world championships.
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