Reigning Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra adds World Championships gold to his collection

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

After missing out last year, Neeraj Chopra finally completed his set of gold medals. Coming into the World Championships in Budapest, Chopra had already won the junior world title, the Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medals and the Olympics crown.

The World Championships gold was the only one eluding Chopra, who had finished second last year. However, Chopra was not to be denied this year as the 25-year-old established himself as the undisputed king of javelin. “This was great. After the Olympics gold I really wanted to win the World Championships,” Chopra said.

Chopra, who is employed as a Subedar in the Indian Army, won the coveted gold after registering a throw of 88.17m. Chopra became only the second Indian, after shooter Abhinav Bindra, to win the Olympics and World Championships titles.

There is a saying that throwers have no finish line. The best thing is that we have our javelin. We can always push ourselves. I may have won a lot of medals but the motivation is to throw farther and farther.

Chopra, who had needed only one attempt in the qualification round to lead the field with a season-best 88.77m, began the final with a foul throw. Unhappy with his effort, he deliberately stepped over the line for a foul. But Chopra recovered by registering his best throw with his second attempt. He subsequently registered throws of 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m and 83.98m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem took silver with his best attempt of 87.82m, while Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch finished third.

I was feeling very good this year and thought I would throw 90m. It will come someday but I won’t be under pressure.

Neeraj Chopra

The two other Indians who were part of the 12-man final competition, Kishore Jena and DP Manu, finished fifth and sixth after registering 84.77m and 84.14m, respectively.

Chopra became the first Indian to win back-to-back medals at the World Championships. After achieving yet another historic feat, Chopra played down all the talks of him being the greatest in his sport. For him, the legendary Czech thrower Jan Zelezny, who still holds the world record of 98.48m and won three Olympics gold medals, is the greatest.

'It’s a historic milestone for Indian sports. May your hard work keep shining in every tournament you represent'

Sachin Tendulkar

'A remarkable athlete. A true Champion who saves his best for the biggest occasions time after time. Take a bow'

Ravi Shastri

'Immense pride watching Neeraj Chopra soar to victory at the World Championships in Budapest! Your dedication and hard work are an inspiration to all. India shines brighter with stars like you'

Abhinav Bindra

“I will never say this. People said that just the World Championships gold was missing. I won it now but I have many things left to do and I will focus on that,” Chopra said. “For me the greatest of all time is Jan Zelezny,” he added.

Chopra also said that it was tougher to win a medal at the World Championships than at the Olympics. “If you talk competition-wise, the World Championships is always tougher than the Olympics. All the athletes come prepared for this,” he said.

Chopra effect

The Neeraj Chopra-inspired javelin revolution is headed in the right direction with three Indians finishing in the top-six, unprecedented in the tournament’s history. Germany has had three of its competitors finishing in the top-eight on four occasions but never had three participants from a country ended in the top-six. While Chopra won gold, Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, on debut. In fact, India were to have four entries but Rohit Yadav had to pull out due to an elbow injury. Only Germany, USA and Finland have had three athletes in the final in the past. The country currently has nine active javelin throwers who have crossed 80m. “Chopra’s achievements have opened up the avenue for the country’s youngsters. ...more than the talent, you need the motivation to excel,” Jena’s coach Samarjeet Singh Malhi said.

Indo-Pak domination

Arshad Nadeem will give tough competition to Neeraj Chopra for the gold medal at Paris Olympics, but the Pakistani ace said for now both are just “very happy” to call the shots in a sport once dominated by the Europeans. “Neeraj and I have a very healthy competition and we respect each other a lot. There is no Pakistan-India rivalry in a bad way. When we talk we are just happy that both of us have come to the fore in a competition usually dominated by Europeans,” said Nadeem, who won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a best throw of 90.18m.

'We respect each other a lot. There is no Pakistan-India rivalry in a bad way. When we talk we are just happy that both of us have come to the fore in a competition dominated by Europeans'

Arshad Nadeem

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