India's golden boy Neeraj Chopra delivered yet another historic performance to become the country's first-ever World Athletics Championships gold medallist after hurling the javelin to 88.17m at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday, August 27.
The prime contender to win gold, Neeraj was praiseworthy in terms of his efforts in the final showdown and delivered yet another memorable performance for his fans and supporters to rejoice. The 25-year-old seems to be on course to becoming one of India's greatest sportspersons of all time.
Having already bagged a historic gold at the Tokyo Olympics - only the second Indian to do so in an individual category after shooter Abhinav Bindra, the Haryana-born added another feather to his illustrious cap with the gold at the World Athletics Championships and is on his way to immortalising his legacy.
Neeraj's rise seems to be rubbing well on his fellow Indian teammates as his compatriots Kishore Jena and DP Manu also produced commendable efforts on Sunday to claim the fifth and the sixth spots respectively. While Jena was able to launch the javelin to 84.77m - thereby recording his personal best, Manu managed 84.14m to impress everyone.
Pakistan's ace javelin thrower and the reigning Commonwealth Games Champion Arshad Nadeem claimed silver by recording his best attempt of 87.82m. Nadeem's presence in the final was enough to add the India-Pakistan flavour to the contest and kept citizens in both countries awake late in the night with bated breath.
Although it was anticipated that Nadeem might run the Tokyo Olympics champion close, Neeraj held his nerves despite a foul to begin with and emerged victorious. The bronze went to Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic who recorded 86.67m in the final clash.
Having pocketed the gold in Budapest, India's ace javelin thrower has pocketed every title that the sport has to offer. Asian Games gold (2018), Commonwealth Games gold (2018), four individual Diamond League Meeting titles (two each in 2022 and 2023) and a Diamond League champion's trophy in 2022.
India erupted with joy as Neeraj recorded the outstanding feat in Budapest and didn't shy away from expressing their elation on social media. Here are some of those reactions:
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