Indian sports sensation Neeraj Chopra etched his name in history by clinching the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, winning not only his maiden world championship gold but also becoming the first Indian to achieve the feat.Chopra catapulted the javelin to a distance of 88.17m, securing the top prize. His triumph stands as a significant advancement from the 2022 edition of the event, where he secured a silver medal.The Olympic champion becomes the javelin throw world champion ☄️🇮🇳s @Neeraj_chopra1 throws 88.17m to upgrade last years silver medal into glittering gold in Budapest 👏#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/8K1mIvcYmF— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 27, 2023Chopra started the finals with a minor setback after a foul throw in the opening round made him the only athlete to not register a throw.Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan emerged as Chopras closest contender, achieving a best throw of 87.82m, earning him the silver medal. Meanwhile, Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic secured the bronze medal with a throw of 86.67m.History-makerArshad Nadeem becomes the very first medallist ever for Pakistan in the history of the #WorldAthleticsChamps 🥇 @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳 🥈 Arshad Nadeem 🇵🇰 🥉 Jakub Vadlejch 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/N3N12VIiCN— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 27, 2023Throughout the competition, Chopra consistently dominated the event, recording impressive distances in his subsequent attempts with distances of 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m, and 83.98m.Notably, two other Indian javelin throwers, Kishore Jena and DP Manu, showcased impressive performances despite narrowly missing out on podium positions. Jena secured an impressive 5th place with a personal best throw of 84.77m, while Manu achieved 6th place with a best throw of 84.14m.Neeraj Chopra: A serial winnerChopras achievement places him in an elite category, as he becomes only the second Indian, following shooter Abhinav Bindra, to simultaneously hold the Olympic and World Championships titles. Bindra had achieved this feat by winning the World Championships at the age of 23 and securing the Olympics title at 25.Chopras journey began with his historic victory as the first Indian Olympic track and field gold medallist in Tokyo 2021, followed by his silver win at the World Championships in 2022.Adding to his legacy, Chopra joins the esteemed ranks of only three javelin throwers in history to hold both the Olympic and World Championship titles, standing alongside the legendary Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.Chopras extraordinary accomplishments now span various titles in his field, including gold medals in 2018 from the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, in addition to four individual Diamond League Meeting titles (two in 2022 and two in 2023) and the Diamond League champions trophy.He also won the Junior World Championships in 2016 and the Asian Championships in 2017.
