Neeraj Chopra, of India, waves after the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships. (AP)Neeraj Chopra on Sunday won India’s first-ever silver medal in Athletics at the World Championships for India. The legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to win a medal — bronze — in the World Championships in the 2003 edition in Paris.
The 24-year-old Neeraj Chopra, who had come into the event as hot favourite, secured the medal with a throw of 88.13m finishing second.
Neeraj didn’t had an ideal start as he began with a foul throw and had 82.39m and 86.37m to be at fourth after three rounds. He got his rhythm back with a big fourth round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort, to jump to second place, which he held on to till the end. His fifth and sixth throws were fouls.
The throw that won #NeerajChopra the silver medal at #WorldChampionship. It's incredible how these guys know the throw is good the moment they release the #javelin. That roar!
This man continues to write history. And he's just 24! pic.twitter.com/dhEj7vDD2G— Mihir Vasavda (@mihirsv) July 24, 2022
The roar after his fourth attempt is something that Indian sports fans will never forget.
Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won gold with a best throw of 90.54m while Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic took the bronze with 88.09m.
Chopra had topped the Group A qualification round and qualified for 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 finished at 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit had finished 11th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.
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Last year, Neeraj Chopra had won India’s maiden gold in the track and field at the Tokyo Olympics. He is only the second Indian to have won an individual gold in the Olympics, after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won it in the 2008 Beijing Games.
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