Budapest [Hungary], August 28 (ANI): While Neeraj Chopra created historical past by turning into the primary Indian to win gold on the World Athletics Championships, the javelin thrower reveals that his precise want was to hit the 90m mark within the closing.
However, issues did not materialise within the method he hoped for and Neeraj recorded his finest throw of 88.17 m in his second try managing to maintain his lead intact until the very finish to clinch the gold.
Arshad Nadeem, the Commonwealth Games champion with 87.82 m bagged a silver medal whereas Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch secured the bronze with a finest throw of 86.67 m.
Neeraj who seemed a bit dissatisfied informed reporters within the post-match convention, “I wanted to throw more than 90m tonight. But it needs all parts of the puzzle to be there. I couldn’t put it all together this evening. Maybe next time.” Although the 25-year-old took the lead within the second spherical which remained untouched all through the ultimate, he nonetheless yearned to interrupt his personal mark and take it additional in his closing throw.
“After the second round, I was thinking of pushing myself because I knew that I could get a better throw. But there is a lot of pressure on technique and speed. We have to push a lot in the qualifying round. There was only a single day for recovery so it was also a big factor. I go forward with the motivation of pushing myself till the last throw,” Neeraj mentioned.
The Tokyo Olympic gold medallist wasn’t the one Indian competing within the closing, Kishore Jena (better of 84.77 m) and DP Manu (better of 84.14 m) have been additionally within the combine and completed fifth and sixth respectively.
This was Neeraj’s second medal on the World Championships after he secured a silver in 2022. Previously, Anju Bobby George had bagged the bronze for the nation within the 2003 World Championships for the ladies’s lengthy bounce. He has additionally bagged gold on the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and the Asian Games 2018.
Neeraj will likely be again on the sector within the Asian Games, Hangzhou which is scheduled from September 23 to October 8. This competitors will mark the ultimate main competitors of this yr for the 25-year-old javelin thrower. (ANI)