Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra in less than five years has won everything there is to be won as a javelin thrower in track and field events as he became the world champion with an 88.17m throw in the final in Budapest on Sunday, August 27. Chopra whose journey of winning in mega events began in the Asian Games in 2018, the Commonwealth Games in the same year and then a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, a win in the Diamond League final last year, has now a gold medal in the World Athletics Championship, first for India in the event.
Chopra won a Silver medal last year, finishing just a touch behind the champion Anderson Peters went one better this year with his 8th personal best throw. Chopra was given tough competition by his Pakistan opponent Arshad Nadeem, who threw a massive distance of 87.82 metres and fell just short but the duo was happy that they are doing well in a sport where Europeans once dominated.
Neeraj was the happiest seeing that not just him but there were two more Indians competing in the final event DP Manu and Kishore Jena. "It's a very special feeling to have won the Olympics and the World Championships. Competition-wise, the World Championships is always tougher than the Olympics. Athletes train very hard for this. I am most happy about the fact that I won today, and two more Indians were with me. I'm very happy to see how Indian athletics is growing," he said.
It was also an emotional moment for Neeraj who was returning from injury. The 25-year-old star athlete missed the FBK Games and Paavo Nurumi Games due to a muscle strain after the Doha Diamond League leg. Neeraj had a great outing in Lausanne after that and is now all set to make a return.
The next event where Neeraj Chopra will be participating will be the Zurich leg of Diamond League, set to take place on August 31. Chopra currently has 16 points in his kitty and is at No.3 spot after Czech Reopublic's Jakub Vadlejch (21) and Germany's Julian Weber (19) and will be hoping to maintain his position if not go one better.
The final of the Diamond League will take place in Eugene next month.
