Neeraj Chopra wins historic World Athletics Championships gold

On Sunday, Neeraj Chopra accomplished another remarkable achievement, becoming the inaugural Indian athlete to secure a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in the men’s javelin throw final event held in Budapest.

During his second attempt in the final, Chopra launched the javelin an impressive distance of 88.17 meters, which remained unsurpassed throughout the event. This accomplishment signified a substantial advancement from the previous 2022 edition of the championships, where he had earned a silver medal.

Although the reigning Olympic gold medalist initially struggled in the final, recording a distance of merely 79 meters, Chopra chose not to register the score at all by stepping over the line to deliberately commit a foul, clearly dissatisfied with his throw. However, he saved his most exceptional performance for the second attempt, fueled by an enthusiastic crowd. In his signature fashion, Chopra began celebrating even before the javelin had landed.

Chopra’s counterpart from Pakistan, Arshad Nadeem, secured the second position with a narrow margin behind the Indian gold medalist, achieving a distance of 87.82 meters. The bronze was claimed by Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic with a throw of 86.67 meters.

The two other Indian javelin throwers in contention, Kishore Jena and DP Manu, put on impressive displays despite falling short of podium placements. Both throwers qualified for the top 8 positions, finishing in fifth and sixth places respectively. Jena achieved his personal best and the highest registered throw of 84.77 meters, while Manu’s throw measured 84.14 meters.

As the current top-ranked javelin thrower globally, Chopra had previously secured Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020 but had earned a silver at the previous year’s world championships in Eugene, where Anderson Peters took the gold. The sole other Indian to win a world championships medal was Anju Bobby George, who secured bronze in the women’s long jump event in 2003 in Paris.

In the qualification round for the men’s javelin final at the 2023 event, Neeraj required just one throw to secure a place in Sunday’s final. His first attempt resulted in an exceptional 88.77-meter throw, guaranteeing an automatic qualification. Neeraj’s distances in the final included 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m, and 83.98m, following his initial foul in the final’s first throw on Sunday.

Furthermore, India’s exceptional javelin thrower became only the third athlete in history to concurrently hold titles in the Olympics and World Championships in the sport, a distinction shared with the legendary Jan Zelezny from the Czech Republic and Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway.