If Neeraj lived up to the expevtations and bagged the elusive gold, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem finished close second.
Budapest: It was a day to remember for India’s ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as he won gold at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest with an 88.17 m throw. If Neeraj lived up to the expevtations and bagged the elusive gold, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem finished close second. After the mouthwatering event, the Pakistani ace congratulated Neeraj and hoped the two finish one and two in Paris in 2024 as well.
“So happy for Neeraj bhai! India and Pakistan are one and two in the world. Inshallah we will be 1 and 2 at the Olympics,” Aeshad said after the event.
Meanwhile, in another first, three Indians finished in top eight with Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) taking the fifth and sixth spots respectively. Never before did three Indians finish in top eight of an event in the World Championships.
The 25-year-old Chopra had a foul to start with, but then got 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m and 83.98m. Pakistan’s reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem took the silver with his season’s best throw of 87.82m, while Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic got the bronze.
Chopra has now become only the second Indian — after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra — to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships title. Bindra won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25.
It was India’s third medal at the World Athletics Championships. Anju Bobby George won a bronze in 2003 and Neeraj Chopra won silver last year. With this gold, Neeraj Chopra had won gold medals in all competitions – Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Diamond League.
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