Picture Credit: Twitter
The ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj Chopra continued to dominate in his javelin throw event as he clinched India’s first-ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. Coming after a small injury lay-off, Chopra continued his top form to etch history and become the first track and field player to win a gold with a throw of 88.17m.
The 25-year-old, who qualified for the finals of the World Athletics Championships after a throw of 88.77m in his very first attempt in the Group A Qualifiers on August 25, registered an 88.17m throw to clinch the gold. Notably, this throw was his eighth personal best and helped him finish ahead of Pakistan competitor Arshad Nadeem, who finished second with 87.82m throw.
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The Haryana-born athlete became the first to clinch a gold after his own silver metal finish in the 2022 World Athletics Championships, after Anju Bobby George’s bronze medal in women’s long jump back in 2003 in Paris. He also the second after Abhinav Bindra to simultaneously hold an Olympics as well as World Championships title. The Indian shooter won the World Championships title when he was 23 and later went on to win the Olympics gold at the age of 25.
Talking about the other Indians who had qualified for the World Athletics Championships final in javelin throw, also impressed with Kishore Jena finishing fifth and DP Manu taking the sixth place with 84.77m and 84.14m throw, respectively. While Chopra finished with a gold, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem took the silver followed by Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch clinching the bronze with 86.67m throw.
