Neeraj Chopra Creates History Becoming First Indian Gold Medalist at World Athletics Championships – News18

India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships 2023 javelin throw final on Sunday, August 27 with a throw of  88.17m here in Budapest, Hungary.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won the silver medal with a throw of 87.82m, his season best, while world number 1 Croatia’s Jakub Vadlejch won the bronze with his best throw of 86.67m.

It was not an ideal start for the Indian ace as his first attempt ended in a foul while DP Manu started with a throw of 78.44m throw, and Kishore Jena began with an attempt of 75.70m. Oliver Helander of Finland led the standings after the first set of attempts.

The world number 1 Vadlejch took the lead with his second attempt of 84.18m going to the top of the charts. Chopra however overtook the chasing pack, establishing his lead with a massive throw of 88.17m at the second bite of the cherry.

Kishore Jena’s last attempt resulted in a foul, meaning he finished in fifth place, with his personal best throw of 84.77m, whereas, DP Manu finished sixth, with a best throw of 84.14m.

Neeraj becomes the first Indian athlete win the World Championships crown, before him India’s long jumper Anju Bobby George had won a bronze medal while Neeraj himself won the silver last year.

Javelin Throw Final LIVE, World Championships

Watch Neeraj Chopra’s 88.17m throw:

With his third attempt, Neeraj managed to throw the javelin to a distance of 86.32m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem made his presence felt with his third attempt, jumping to second in the standings with a season-best throw of 87.82m.

Nadeem’s fourth attempt was slightly less than his season best, at 87.15m, while Neeraj managed a throw of 84.64m in his fourth throw.

Kishore Jena managed to record his personal best throw of 84.77 with his fifth attempt as he rose to fourth place in the overall tally, a whisker behind Germany’s Julian Weber who occupied the bronze medal berth thanks to his second attempt of 85.79m.

Vadlejch brought out a massive 86.67m throw to jump to third place with his fifth attempt pushing Weber and Jena below. Chopra meanwhile forked out a throw of 87.73m from his penultimate attempt, not enough to past his previous best of 88.17m but still promising signs. With his final attempt, the Indian ace got to 83.98m, but not it would matter to him.

The 25-year-old Tokyo Olympic gold medalist added another feather to his cap as he won the gold medal to go along with his silver in Eugene last year, and the Asian Games gold medal plus the Commonwealth gold.

Chopra qualified for the World Athletics final with a mammoth throw of 88.77m in the qualifying Group A round on Friday, setting the pace with his first throw itself that was enough to secure him a place in the final, as well as the Paris Olympics next year.

To qualify for the Paris Spectacle in 2024, the qualification mark was set at 85.50m which Neeraj easily surpassed. Chopra’s personal best throw of 89.94m came at the Doha Diamond League last year and his qualification throw was his season best so far.