Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra made history once more as he took silver in the javelin throw final, becoming just the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to do so.
Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra made history for India by becoming the first male track and field athlete and only the second Indian to win a medal at the World Championships by taking home silver in the javelin throw final.
Winning moment for Neeraj Chopra :
The renowned long jumper Anju Booby George, who competed in the 2003 World Championships in Paris, was the first Indian to take home a medal, a bronze, before the 24-year-old Chopra. Neeraj Chopra, who entered the competition as a strong medal favourite, finished second with a best throw of 88.13metres.
The Olympic medalist got off to a poor start with throws of 82.39 metres and 86.37 metres, leaving him in fourth place after three rounds. He regained his rhythm with a huge throw of 88.13 metres in the fourth round, which was his fourth career-best effort, and moved up to second place, which he managed to hold onto until the very end. His throws number five and six were fouls.
Anderson Peters, the defending champion, of Grenada claimed the gold with a best throw of 90.54 metres, and Jakub Vadlejch, the Czech Republic’s Olympic silver medalist, took the bronze with 88.09 metres.
Notably, Chopra won the Group A qualification round and advanced to the final in second place behind Peters by tossing his spear 88.39 metres, which was his third best throw of his career. Peters had won Group B with a distance of 89.91 metres.
The other Indian competitor, Rohit Yadav, placed 10th overall with a best throw of 78.72 metres. With a best throw of 80.42 metres, Rohit placed 11th overall in the qualification round.
The 21-year-old Indian won silver at the National Inter-State Championships last month after setting a season’s and personal best of 82.54m. Chopra had won the first athletics gold for India at the Tokyo Olympics the previous year.
Only shooter Abhinav Bindra, who captured the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, is only Indian who has ever won an individual gold medal at the Olympics.
image credit : Khel now
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