Neeraj Chopra was out of the medal race till the third attempt in the men’s javelin final at the World Athletics Championships at Oregon on Sunday.
But the Olympic champion and million other Indians knew the show was not over. It wasn’t indeed as an under-pressure Neeraj Chopra managed to pull off an 88.13m throw that straightaway put him in the second spot only behind Anderson Peters.
The Tokyo Olympics Gold medal-winner tried his best but failed to beat Peters, who breached the 90m-mark a staggering three times in the final – for gold in his final two attempts but finished with India’s first-ever silver medal in World Championships.
Neeraj’s 88.13m throw on Sunday was a whisker short of his 88.39m throw that won him gold last year in the Olympics. But it was enough to give him his first World Championship medal and India’s second overall. Anju Bobby Geroge is the only other Indian to have won a medal at World Championships. She had won a bronze medal in the women’s long jump event in 2003.
Watch Video: Neeraj Chopra’s historic 88.13m throw in the men’s javelin final in World Championships
Chopra began with a foul throw and had 82.39m and 86.37m to be at fourth after three rounds. He got his rhythm back with a big fourth-round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort.
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.
Chopra had topped the Group A qualification round and qualified for the final at second place behind Peters by sending his spear to 88.39m for his third career-best throw. Peters had topped Group B with an effort of 89.91m.
The other Indian in the fray, Rohit Yadav finished at 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit had finished 11th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.