Tough to throw against the wind, but I was confident, says Neeraj Chopra after winning silver medal

Tribune News Service

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, July 24

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra created history as he won a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Neeraj’s fourth attempt, which was also his best throw of 88.13 metres, won him his first World Championships medal and in doing so, he became only the second Indian after Anju Bobby George to stand on the podium at the prestigious event.

Anju won a bronze medal in long jump in Paris in 2003. Grenada’s Anderson Peters secured the gold medal with a best throw of 90.54m, while Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch bagged the third place with a best throw of 88.09m.

The other Indian in the fray, Rohit Yadav finished 10th with a best throw of 78.72 metres.

Neeraj was on the back foot at the start of the competition with a foul throw. However, he improved to register 82.39m in his second attempt and started to climb the pecking order with a much-improved effort of 86.37m. The fourth, however, was the medal-clinching attempt.

Neeraj conceded that he found it difficult at the start as he thought his warm-up was not good. “It was difficult to start with. It is tough to throw against the wind. Though I will take this as another learning experience,” the reigning Olympic champion told the Indian media on Sunday.

“I struggled in the first two-three throws but I always had the confidence that I would make a comeback and register a good throw. I am happy that I won a medal today. There is a World Championships in Hungary next year, I will try to do better there,” he added.

Neeraj once again reiterated that he was not under pressure to win. “There was no pressure on me because I won gold at the Olympics. One cannot win gold every time. In fact, one may not win at all,” he said, explaining his mindset.   

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won gold with a best throw of 90.54m, while Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic took the bronze with 88.09m.

“Anderson Peters started well today. He has three throws of over 90 metres. Conditions were difficult, but that throw (88.13m) felt good so I am satisfied with the result,” he added.

Glory wall

Neeraj’s Sunday feat has made him perhaps the only Indian athlete to have medalled at every major tournament. Starting with a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in 2016, the 24-year-old has now completed a full set of medals that the sport offers. He won the South Asian Games in 2016, following which he did the double of winning both at the Commonwealth Games and at the Asian Games in 2018.

Then, he won the biggest prize in Tokyo with a throw of 87.58 metres. This year, he has bagged a silver medal in the Diamond League in Stockholm and he has followed it up with a silver medal in Oregon. The Army man from Khandra village of Haryana said he was happy to add another medal to his tally.

“It feels good to have medals at all major championships now. All others were gold medals, I have won silver in Oregon now,” he said.

“I will also add the Diamond League podium in the list as it is very prestigious and competitive as well. I am hungry to win and I am very happy that I have all the medals now,” he added. 

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