India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra stamped his authority on the World Athletics Championships qualifying rounds, becoming the only athlete from group A to secure an automatic qualification berth into Sunday’s final at Budapest. That’s not it, Chopra registered his season-best throw of 88.77m in his maiden attempt, thereby securing his berth at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The 25-year-old added another feather to his cap with his latest effortless throw that saw the entire nation burst into happiness. Fans demanded a ‘gold’ medal from Neeraj who had clinched silver last year at the World Championships.
Chopra, who also has won the Diamond League and the gold medal at the Asian Games will be looking to become the first Indian to win a gold medal at the track and field events of the World Athletics Championships.
Neeraj will be raring for the gold medal in Sunday’s final, and after his stunning throw, fans on social media hailed the athlete as the ‘pride of India’.
Check how fans reacted to Neeraj Chopra’s latest achievement:
Pride Of India 🇮🇳The Golden Arm #NeerajChopra qualifies for the Paris Olympics by entering the World Championships final with an 88.77m throw. pic.twitter.com/DaqpuTvso2
— Arun Yadav🇮🇳 (@beingarun28) August 25, 2023
Landing a big one with the first throw itself with his season’s best. Qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics & enters into the finals of World Championship with 88.77 m throw.Way to go #NeerajChopra 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/TsB61CgWyh
— KÏNG 🚩 (@JonSnowRises) August 25, 2023
Neeraj Chopra has qualified for Paris Olympics 2024 and World athletics Championships final 2023 with first throw of 88.77 M.Neeraj Chopra - The Golden boy, The Pride of India.
All the best Champ. Bring back gold #NeerajChopra#ParisOlympics2024 #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/bxK4Kg5aTB
— Hassan Raza (@iamhsnrz) August 25, 2023
Congratulations to Neeraj Chopra for qualifying 2024 Paris Olympics. Bring that Gold back again @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/L7oXfjYTuB— Indian Tech & Infra (@IndianTechGuide) August 25, 2023
Neeraj Chopra has qualified for Paris Olympics 2024 and World athletics Championships final 2023 with first throw of 88.77 M.Neeraj Chopra - The Golden boy, The Pride of India. pic.twitter.com/on0nbEjWMx
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) August 25, 2023
#NeerajChopra qualifies for the Paris Olympics by entering the World Championships final with an 88.77m throw. pic.twitter.com/D8hgHlLL4O— Arvind Kumar( ⚛️) (@antar_dwand) August 25, 2023
The golden arm Neeraj Chopra #NeerajChopra pic.twitter.com/J0XaslKkIG— ✨ ✨ (@__vikass___) August 25, 2023
Alongside Neeraj’s India’s D.P. Manu also remained in contention for the final, having finished 3rd in group A qualifying round with an astonishing throw of 81.31m. It wasn’t his best this season, but Manu will be hoping to be there on Sunday.
Group B qualifying round of the men’s Javelin event featured Kishore Jena who was looking to become the third athlete from India to make it into the top 12 for the final.
All three Indian athletes crossed the 80m mark, and only six other athletes have breached the 80m hurdle, meaning the trio remain in contention for the World Championship final which would be a historic achievement.