File photo of Neeraj Chopra.© AFP
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra on Sunday scripted history yet again as he became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Athletics Championships with a best throw of 88.17m in the men’s javelin final in Budapest, Hungary. In another first, three Indians finished in top eight with Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) taking the fifth and sixth spots respectively. Never before did three Indians finish in top eight of an event in the World Championships.
The 25-year-old Chopra dominated the competition and achieved his best throw of the day in his second attempt. He had a foul to start with, but then got 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m and 83.98m.
“Heartiest congratulations to Neeraj Chopra for winning India’s first ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. It is a momentous day for India as the tricolour soared high on the world athletics stage. Congratulations also to DP Manu, Parul Chaudhary, Jeswin Aldrin, our men’s relay team, and our very own Reliance Foundation athlete Kishore Jena for their outstanding performances in making India proud in the global arena. We, at Reliance Foundation, are proud to partner with the Athletics Federation of India and play our part in the journey of Indian athletes from grassroots to glory!” – Mrs. Nita M. Ambani, Founder & Chairperson, Reliance Foundation.
Pakistan’s reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem took the silver with his season’s best throw of 87.82m, while Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) of Czech Republic got the bronze.
Olympic champion Chopra began with a foul but jumped to top spot with his second throw, and from thereon, he led the field till the end. Nadeem also maintained his second position from the third round after which it was 1-2 for the Indo-Pak duo till the end.
(With PTI Inputs)
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