On Sunday morning, Indian sports fans looked forward to Oregon, USA. Where Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra entered the javelin final of the World Athletics Championship.
Anju Bobby George gave India its first medal in athletics on this same stage 19 years ago. Neeraj wrote another history on that stage. Being the first Indian athlete to win silver. After the Olympics gold, this silver win places Neeraj on a unique throne of fame.
24-year-old Neeraj’s dream was not only a World Championship medal, but he also wanted to cross the distance of 90 meters. But that dream was not fulfilled by Neeraj. He had to stop one step away from winning the gold. Indian star’s best throw reaches 88.13 meters!
Details of the game
Here he fought mainly defending champions Anderson Peters of Grenada and Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic. On this day, Peters threw 90.12 meters in the first attempt. Neeraj’s first legal throw reached 82.39 meters. He was number four then. In the second throw Peters also surprised by throwing 90.46 meters. The second throw was a little better by Neeraj. 86.37 meters. Then he was third. Rohit Yadav, another Indian thrower on his World Championship debut, finished tenth. His best throw was 78.72 meters.
As soon as Rohit got knocked out, the fight for the top eight started. And it was at this place that the Indian superstar came second with his best throw till then. Overcame Jakub Vadlejch. His fourth throw of the Javelin flew 88.13 meters. At that time only Peters was ahead of the Olympic gold medallist. In the end, Neeraj got the silver by finishing second. This time it was Peters who won the gold. His gold throws in Javelin reached 90.54 meters. Bronze went to Vadlejch (88.09m).
Winner’s comment
After winning the silver, Neeraj said that the World Championship is a much tougher stage than the Olympics. Says the 24-year-old Indian superstar athlete, “It is a great honour to win a medal at the World Championships. The competition is very tough on this stage. It is tougher than the Olympics. Everyone knows that the record here is always better than the Olympics.” “So I can’t express how happy I am to win silver here,” he added.
But injury has become Neeraj’s problem. It was after the fourth throw that he started to feel pain in his groin. Perhaps that’s why he couldn’t give his best in the last two throws. As soon as the news of Neeraj’s injury spread, the anxiety started. The question arises, will Neeraj be able to participate in the upcoming Commonwealth Games?
In an interview after winning the silver, Neeraj said, “I will have a medical examination tomorrow morning. Only then will I know if the injury is serious. Hopefully, this problem will not prevent me from going to the Commonwealth.” He was heard to say about the atmosphere in Oregon, “It was quite windy. It was a new experience for me in the stadium.”