India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra won a historic maiden gold medal for India in the World Athletics Championships on Sunday, claiming the gold medal in the men's javelin throw competition here.
Chopra, who has been bothered by an injury in the last few months, killed the competition in the Hungarian capital with a massive throw of 88.17 in his second turn,
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem took the silver medal, the first World Championship medal for his country, with a distance of 87.82 while Czech Republic's Yakub Vadlejch retained the bronze he won in Oregon last year, with a distance of 86.67.
The two other Indians in the fray too did their best but could not finish on the podium -- Kishore Kumar Jena, who had to overcome visa problems to reach Budapest, finished fifth with a personal best throw of 84.77 while D.P. Manu finished sixth with 84.14.
But India had the most hopes from Neeraj Chopra and the 25-year-old from Haryana did not disappoint as he came up with a superb throw on his second turn and secured his first World Championship gold.
Before Sunday, no Indian male or female had won a gold medal in the World Championship with Anju Bobby George claiming bronze in women's long jump at Paris in 2003 while Neeraj Chopra won a silver in Oregon, US, last year.
Chopra's historic feat triggered a memefest on social media hailing the Javelin champion.
Chopra's next goal
King for a reason
Records broken
'Tera khoon kab khaulega re Indian cricket team'
(with inputs from IANS)
Start a Conversation
Post comment