Neeraj Chopra becomes first Indian to win silver at World Athletics Championship; wishes flood in from all around
While more than a billion people in India were engulfed in sleep, one Indian across the seven sees scripted history for them. Yes, we are talking about India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra who won a silver medal at World Athletics Championship.
It took Neeraj four attempts to clear the 88-meter mark. And while he cried out in joy, the tension was palpable on his face until the athlete walked up to the podium. And collected his silver medal.
Neeraj Chopra scripts history
With this medal, he became the first Indian to win a medal in the world championship. But it was not an easy outing for the 24-year-old in the tough conditions of the USA.
Neeraj fouled in the first attempt as he overstepped the line. This brought some pressure on the Indian, resulting in a below-par throw of 82 meters in the second attempt.
The third attempt, however, saw him making a comeback as he managed to cover a distance of 86.37m with that throw. Although it could only take him up to the fourth rank in the 12-men javelin throw finals.
It was a nervy moment for everyone. And especially for the reigning CWG and Asia Cup champion, who had only 3 attempts left to make it count. The fourth attempt did it for him, though, as he managed to cover 88.13m in that.
With this, he moved up to the second position, dislodging Czech Republic’s Vadlejch. He had the previous second best of 88.09 meters. Neeraj had two more attempts to overtake the best throw of 90 meters by Anderson Peters of Grenada. But he faltered in doing so. Luckily, Vadlejch was also unable to produce a better throw in his remaining attempts.
As a result, Peters, Chopra, and Vadlejch shared the three positions on the podium of the World Athletics Championship.
Before the start of the event Chopra had the chance to become the first javelin thrower after Andreas Thorkildsen, to win a gold in Olympics and World Championship.
Neeraj will be happy with this performance as is the rest of the nation. Everyone will be hoping for him to secure another gold at the upcoming CWG.
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