Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra made history yet again as he won silver in the javelin throw final, becoming only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to do so. Chopra, 24, who entered the competition as a medal favorite, finished second with a best throw of 88.13m.
Anju Bobby George, the renowned long jumper, was the first Indian to earn a medal – bronze — at the World Championships in 2003 in Paris.
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Chopra started with a foul throw and went on to throw 82.39m and 86.37m to finish fourth after three rounds. He regained his rhythm with a tremendous fourth-round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best performance, to surge to the second position, which he maintained until the conclusion. His fifth and sixth attempts were both fouls.
Check out the throw that won @Neeraj_chopra1 his historic Silver 🥈 at @WorldAthletics C'ships
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 24, 2022
Our Champ just nows when its a good throw 😁😇 and the Roar🔥#WCHOregon22 #IndianAthletics @PMOIndia @ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @afiindia @SAI_Patiala @Adille1 pic.twitter.com/6Y5oSq534z
Anderson Peters of Grenada won gold with a best throw of 90.54m, while Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic claimed bronze with 88.09m.
Chopra won the Group A qualification round and qualified for the final in second place behind Peters, throwing his spear 88.39m, his third career-best throw. Peters had won Group B with a distance of 89.91m.
Rohit Yadav, the only Indian in the competition, finished 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. In the qualification round, Rohit finished 11th overall with a best throw of 80.42m. Last month, the 21-year-old Indian set a season and personal best of 82.54m while earning silver at the National Inter-State Championships.
Chopra earned India’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo last year. He is just the second Indian to win an Olympic individual gold medal, following shooter Abhinav Bindra in the 2008 Beijing Games.