Neeraj Chopra bagged the silver medal in the men's javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships.
He became the second Indian athlete to win a medal at the World Championships.
Chopra was lying at fourth position after three rounds of throws, having opened with a foul before registering 82.39m and 86.37m in his next two attempts. He bounced back with a big fourth-round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort, and climbed to second place.
"Conditions were challenging, there was wind coming from the front. It was a tough competition with very tough competitors. It was challenging for me, but I was confident that a good throw will surely come.
"I was making the effort (in the first three throws) but it (big throw) was not coming. It was challenging but good that I made a comeback," the 24-year-old Chopra said during a virtual press conference.
"I am happy to have won a silver, the country's first medal in World Athletics Championships after 19 years, I will take it."
Chopra felt some tightness on his thigh after the fourth throw.
"I thought even the fourth throw could have gone farther. After that, I felt something on my thigh and could not do my best in the next two.
"I had strapping (on the thigh). I will know the status tomorrow morning because my body is still warm after the event. I hope there should not be an issue for the upcoming events, Commonwealth Games."
Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won the gold with a massive throw of 90.54m.
Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic bagged the bronze with 88.09m.
Asked if he was feeling the pressure of being an Olympic champion heading into the World Championships finals, he said, "I never felt that kind of pressure. My focus was always to give my best, and improve upon my best.
"Of course, I was in a challenging position (after the third round) but I was confident that I will have a good throw somehow. I kept trying and it came.
"An athlete cannot win a gold every time but we have to keep trying and give our best. I have learned a lot from the challenging situation today and I will work for improvement. I will try to change the colour of the medal (to gold) in the next World Championships in 2023."
(Inputs from PTI)
