At the men’s javelin throw final competition in Budapest on Sunday, Neeraj Chopra accomplished another historic feat by becoming the first Indian athlete to earn a gold medal.
In the final, Chopra’s second effort saw him throw the javelin 88.17 metres, which stood as the event record. Neeraj’s performance was a substantial improvement over his silver medal performance at the Worlds in 2022.
The defending Olympic gold medalist got out to a slower start in the final, covering only 79m. The Indian thrower reserved his finest throws for the second attempt in the championship; riding on a massive amount of fan support, Chopra took his run and, in usual fashion, started to celebrate long before the javelin had touched down.
Arshad Nadeem, Chopra’s fellow Pakistani and gold medalist, came in second with 87.82m, just behind the Indian. Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic won third place in 86.67m.
The other two Indian javelin throwers who were in the running, Kishore Jena and DP Manu, also put on strong performances even though they were unable to place on the podium.
With this gold medal, he has added another remarkable achievement to his decorated cabinet, something that the entire nation is proud of.