The star athlete in Indian athletics, Neeraj Chopra, is now a global champion. The 25-year-old from Chandra, Haryana, created history at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest late on Sunday night as his javelin took flight and landed at a distance of 88.17m on his second try. He has just become the first Indian to win a gold medal at a major athletics competition. Chopra, who was already an Olympic winner, has now won the final big championship that remained for him to win. Scroll down to read more details about the World Athletics Championship: Neeraj Beats Arshad To Win.
World Athletics Championship: Neeraj Beats Arshad To Win
Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, Neeraj Chopra, required one throw to qualify for the men’s javelin throw final on Friday (August 25) in Budapest, Hungary. Chopra’s opening javelin throw in the men’s javelin throw qualifying round traveled 88.77 meters, earning him a spot in the final and a trip to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
In the meanwhile, DP Manu and Kishore Jena of India have both earned a spot in the championship round with best throws of 81.31 and 80.55 meters, respectively.
Kishore Jena of India, the third Indian in the running, finished sixth with a best effort of 84.14 meters, adding to the celebration. Jena placed fifth with a personal best throw of 84.77 meters.
Chopra has won gold medals at the Asian and Commonwealth Games, the Diamond League, the Asian Championships, and the U-20 World Championship. A gold medal from the World Championship will now be displayed in Chopra’s trophy cabinet.
Chopra was favored heading into the World Championship final. The Tokyo Olympics champion just needed one throw to qualify for the final, which he did in the qualification round with his best try of the season of 88.77m. Olympic qualifying time for the 2024 Paris Games is 85.50m. Chopra earned a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics with only that one throw.
The Challengers
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan came in second in the qualifications with a throw of 86.79 meters. Chopra’s key rivals included Nadeem, Julian Weber of Germany, and Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who finished second behind Chopra in the silver medal standings at the Tokyo Olympics.
With a best throw of 83.50 meters, Vadlejch qualified second in Group B and finished third overall. With a throw of 82.39 meters, Vadlejch finished fourth overall.
Manu (81.31m in qualifying) and Jena (80.55m in qualification) both qualified for the final, adding intrigue for India.
The showdown
Nadeem was the one who frightened Chopra the most. In his initial effort, the Indian superstar made a false throw. He did, however, come back spectacularly and threw the javelin 88.17 meters in his second attempt. In his third try, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem threw 87.82 meters, which was his best throw of the season.
Weber’s third throw was his best effort, coming in at 85.79m. The greatest throw Vadlejch could muster came in his sixth try, coming in at 86.67. Weber came in fourth, and Vadlech third.
The unexpected performer was India’s Kishore Jena. He stood sixth and had a personal best throw of 84.77m on his fifth try. With a best attempt of 84.14m, DP Manu, another Indian competitor, came in sixth place.
However, Neeraj’s subsequent tries of 86.32 meters, 84.64 meters, 87.73 meters, and 83.98 meters failed to break his record.
