India's golden boy Neeraj Chopra does it AGAIN, becomes first Indian to win gold at World Athletics C'ships

Adding another golden feather to his decorated hat, Neeraj Chopra has clinched the gold medal in the men's javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.

 

 

The 'golden boy of Indian athletics' lived up to his name by becoming the first-ever Indian athlete to secure a gold medal at this prestigious championship.

 

After opening the summit clash with a foul attempt, Neeraj soared to the gold medal position with his best throw of 88.17 m in his second attempt.

 

 

 

 

Nadeem, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, shrugged off a slow start to pose a stiff competition with his season-best throw of 87.82 m in his third attempt which immediately saw him take the second position. The two remained intact at the top of the table till the very end with Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch securing the bronze with the best throw of 86.67 m.

 

This was the first time India had as many as three participants in the final with Kishore Jena (best of 84.77 m) having finished fifth while DP Manu (best of 84.14 m) finished sixth.

 

Neeraj's gold medal not only adds a glittering achievement to his personal record but also enriches India's medal tally at the World Athletics Championships. This victory marks his second medal at the Championships, having previously secured a silver medal.

 

India now has medals of all colours with Neeraj being the owner of two of them. He had bagged the silver medal at the World Championships last year. Before his two medals, India's last medalist was Anju Bobby George, in the 2003 World Championships, getting a bronze for the women's long jump.

 

With the win, Neeraj is now an Olympic champion and the reigning World Championships gold medallist, making him only the second Indian after the legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra -- to simultaneously hold the Olympics and Worlds title. Bindra had won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25. He is also the third javelin thrower in the history to hold the Olympics and World Championships titles at the same time after the iconic Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.