jMost people’s aspirations begin to come true around the age of 25. For some gifted people, such as Neeraj Chopra. The Javelin star had already mastered everything by that age. The Haryana-born athlete has achieved a magnificent height that will be difficult to equal for centuries with his maiden World Athletics Championship gold in the javelin throw, which he won late on Sunday night in Budapest, Hungary, in the 2023 edition. He won it with an effort of 88.17 meters. Chopra has come full circle with his first gold medal from the World Championship, which was the only significant metal missing from his already impressive trophy collection. Scroll to read more scoop about Neeraj Chopra Wins World Championship Gold At 25.
Neeraj Chopra Wins World Championship Gold At 25
Neeraj is the current Olympic champion and the first athlete from India to take home a gold medal in the field events category. Chopra has thus become the first athlete from his nation to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championship. Since Anju Bobby George’s bronze medal in the women’s long jump back in 2003 in Paris, the silver medal he won in 2022 has been India’s best finish at the World Athletics Championships.
Chopra won two gold medals: one from the Commonwealth Games and one from the Asian Games. He has also won the Diamond League. To add to it, he also earned a gold medal at the 2016 U20 World Championship. Neeraj is unquestionably Indian sport’s shining star.
After Abhinav Bindra, Chopra is now the second Indian to hold the Olympic and World Championships titles at the same time. At age 23, Bindra won the World Championships, and at age 25, he won the Olympic gold.
The Rise
Another intriguing tale is the notion that Chopra almost by accident began throwing the javelin. Chopra, who was 14 at the time, weighed 85 kg. He was overweight, but his family managed to persuade him to join a gym. Neera used to travel to Panipat, which is 17 kilometers away, from his hamlet in Chandra, Haryana, to practice at the gym. He would go to Shivaji Stadium where, at the request of his senior Jaiveer, a nationally-ranked javelin thrower, he had thrown his first javelin. There was no more searching since he had discovered his purpose.
Neeraj had passed the coveted 80 million threshold by 2015. He has established a world record at the Under-20 level by 2016. Neeraj won the gold medal in the 2017 Asian Championships. He won gold medals at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in 2018.
The Damage
He ran into trouble just before he was about to become India’s top hope for a gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo. Neeraj experienced a serious elbow issue before the 2019 World Championships as a result of bone spurs in his throwing arm. He had to go through a challenging, two-hour operation, followed by a four-month recovery period. In the end, he returned, and he returned in style.
The Return
He won a gold medal in athletics (field events) in his first Olympics in the summer of 2021, becoming the first Indian to do so. His winning throw measured 87.58 meters.
The grandeur of Chopra is found in this. Although he may appear to be the wonder boy with the Midas touch from the outside, he has faced his share of difficulties. And each time he was taken down, he recovered stronger and hurled the javelin farther.
After the Olympics, in 2022, he went on to beat his own country’s record twice in a little more than two weeks. His most recent mark is 89.94m. He won the Diamond League last year but lost out on the World Championship title. With a throw of 88.13 meters, he came extremely close to winning the gold in 2022. He couldn’t match Grenada’s Anderson Peters’ enormous 90.54 m javelin throw, though. Despite beginning with a false throw, he impressively led the field this time. However, his effort of 88.17 meters was enough to beat Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (87.82 meters) and win the gold.
And he has age on his side, so he has no plans to slow down.
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