Neeraj Chopra of India 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 on his fourth attempt. Chopra became only the second Indian and first Indian man to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships, following long jumper Anju Bobby George’s bronze medal in 2003.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters won the gold medal with a best throw of 90.54m. Peters threw 90.21m on his first attempt and then improved to 90.46m on his second. He then recorded his best throw in his sixth attempt to successfully defend his world title. Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic won bronze with a best throw of 88.09m, while Julian Weber of Germany finished fourth with a best attempt of 86.86m.
Highlight on Chopra’s throws
Chopra began with a foul throw and then threw 82.39m on his second attempt. On his third attempt, he threw the javelin 86.37 metres. He was still not guaranteed a medal, but he improved to second place from fourth with a throw of 88.13m on his fourth attempt. His fifth and sixth tries were both foul throws.
Chopra won the Group A qualification round and qualified for the final in second place behind Peters, throwing his spear 88.39m, his third career-best throw. Peters had won Group B with a distance of 89.91m.
Rohit Yadav, the other Indian in the competition, finished 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. In the qualification round, Rohit finished 11th overall with a best throw of 80.42m.
In June 2022, the 21-year-old Indian set a season and personal best of 82.54m while winning silver at the National Inter-State Championships.
Chopra won India’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021. He is only the second Indian to win an Olympic individual gold medal, following shooter Abhinav Bindra in the 2008 Beijing Games.
