Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra on Saturday won the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon with a best throw of 88.13m, which he recorded with his fourth attempt.
The Gold medal was clinched by Grenada’s Anderson Peters with a best throw of 90.54m. Peters threw 90.21m in his first attempt itself and then bettered it in his second at 90.46m. He then recorded the best throw in his sixth attempt to successfully retain his world title.
Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch won bronze with a best throw of 88.09m, whereas Germany’s Julian Weber finished 4th with a best attempt of 86.86m.
Chopra became only the second Indian — and first Indian man — to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships, after long jumper Anju Bobby George, who won bronze 19 years ago in 2003.
The 24-year-old started with a foul throw and then registered 82.39m with his second attempt. He improved with his third attempt when he threw the javelin 86.37m.
He was still not set for a medal, but he registered a throw of 88.13m with his fourth attempt to make way to second place from fourth.
His fifth and sixth attempts were foul throws.
Chopra had topped the Group A qualification round and reached the final at second place behind Peters by sending his spear to 88.39m for his third career-best throw. Peters had topped Group B with an effort of 89.91m.
The other Indian in the fray, Rohit Yadav, ended up at the 10th position with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit had finished 11th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.
The 21-year-old Indian had recorded a season’s and personal best of 82.54m while winning a silver at the National Inter-State Championships last month.
Chopra had won Indian athletics’ maiden gold in the Tokyo Olympics last year. He is only the second Indian to have won individual gold in the Olympics, after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who clinched the Gold in the 2008 Beijing Games.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
