Neeraj Chopra bags silver at World Athletics Championships 2022

The Javelin ace became only the second Indian to bag a medal at the prestigious event.

India’s Neeraj Chopra did not let his fans down as he created history by winning a silver medal in the Javelin Throw finals at the World Athletics Championships at Oregon on Sunday. By doing so, he became only the second Indian and the first male track & field athlete to win a medal for his country. Anju Bobby George was the first-ever medalist from India at the World Championships at the Long Jump event in 2003, where she bagged bronze.

This achievement by Neeraj Chopra is bigger than many of his victories. The Olympic gold medalist was nearly out of the race after his first three attempts. But as we all say, champions know how to make a comeback and Chopra did the same by recording a remarkable 88.13m long throw in his fourth attempt. It immediately put him in the second spot, only behind Grenada's Anderson Peters.

Chopra, who scripted history last year in Tokyo, tried his level best to grab the first position but failed to beat Peters, who breached the 90m-mark thrice for his gold medal. Jacob Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who was the Olympic silver medalist, bagged the bronze medal with a best throw of 88.09m.

This was one of Chopra’s worst starts as he failed to deliver as per expectations in his first three attempts. But his fourth attempt was enough to give him and Indian fans a day to remember. With this phenomenal victory, his confidence in the upcoming Commonwealth Games would be high. He competed against the bests in the world, which would have given him learning and takeaways for sure.

Another Indian, Eldhose Paul, who reached the finals of the World Athletics Championships in the Triple Jump event, finished ninth in the medal race with a best jump of 16.79m, which was his second attempt. His first attempt was 16.37m. Meanwhile, the Indian Men’s 4x400m relay team finished sixth and last in Round 1 of heats with a timing of 3:07:29. Muhammed Anas Yahiya (46.15s), Muhammed Vahiyathodi (46.41s), Naganathan Pandi (46.43s) and Rajesh Ramesh (48.30s) came 12th overall in the heats.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.