In a battle of two neighbours in a 12-man World Athletics Championships final, India's Neeraj Chopra reigned supreme to bag a historic Gold medal. Having won a Silver at the Worlds last year, Chopra looked keen to change the colour of it in 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. The 25-year-old looked primed for a historic achievement and he did just that on Sunday, August 27.
Chopra won the elusive Gold medal and became the new World Champion with a throw of 88.17m. It was enough to keep the other athletes at bay and even though Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem looked hot on heels, he finished marginally behind at 87.82m and took the Silver medal. However, with these monstrous throws, both the athletes have bagged huge prize money.
Neeraj won a total of USD 70000 (Rs 58 lakh approximate), while Arshad took home USD 35000 (Rs 29 lakh approximate). After the duo, Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch finished with a Bronze as he launched his Javelin to 86.67m.
There were two more Indians in the competition and they also did not disappoint the fans. Kishore Jena and DP Manu finished fifth and sixth with throws of 84.77m and 84.14m. Jena also broke his personal best record in his attempts at the Worlds.
With the prestigious Gold in Budapest, Chopra has completed the World Athletics. He has won Gold medals at all senior competitions. He has won Gold medals at all major senior competitions. The 25-year-old has won the prestigious Gold in South Asian Games 2016, Asian Championships 2017, Commonwealth Games 2018, Asian Games 2018, Olympic Games 2020, Diamond League 2022 and now the World Athletics Championships 2023. He is the first Indian to win the top medal at the Worlds after Anju Bobby George.
Notably, Chopra is the only second Indian apart from Abhinav Bindra to hold the Olympics and Worlds Gold at the same time. He is just the third in the Javelin sport to hold both the Olympics and the Worlds Gold at the same time. Only the Czech Republic's iconic Jan Zelezny and Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen have held the two honours at the same time.
