India’s Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw final with a best throw of 88.13m at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
India’s Neeraj Chopra won the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon with a best throw of 88.13m, which he recorded in his fourth attempt. Grenada’s Anderson Peters won the gold with a best throw of 90.54m. Peters threw 90.21m in his first attempt and then improved to 90.46m in his second attempt.
He then recorded his best throw in his sixth attempt to successfully defend his world title. Czech Republic’s Jakob Vadlage won the bronze with a best throw of 88.09m, while Germany’s Julian Weber finished fourth with a best effort of 86.86m. Chopra became only the second Indian – and the first Indian – to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships after long jumper Anju Bobby George, who won a bronze medal in 2003.
Chopra started with a foul throw and then clocked 82.39m in her second attempt. He improved on his third attempt when he threw 86.37m.
He was still not ready for a medal, but he recorded a throw of 88.13m with his fourth attempt to move from fourth to second.
His fifth and sixth attempts were foul throws.
Chopra had topped the Group A qualification round and qualified for the final, second only to Peters, sending his javelin to 88.39m for the third career-best throw. Peters topped Group B with an effort of 89.91m.
Another Indian Rohit Yadav finished 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit finished 11th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.
The 21-year-old Indian had recorded a season and personal best of 82.54m, winning a silver at the National Inter-State Championships last month.
Chopra won Indian athletics’ first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year. He is only the second Indian to win individual gold at the Olympics after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.