Poland: Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian athlete and created history by winning a global title in athletics when he secured a gold medal in javelin at the U-20 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Saturday, July 23.
The 18-year-old from Haryana created a new U-20 world record by throwing the javelin a distance of 86.48m. Chopra from Khandra village in Haryana’s Panipat district broke the old mark of 84.69 metres held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais by nearly two metres.
Chopra broke his own national record of 82.23 set at the South Asian Games earlier this year. He became the first Indian athlete to set a world record at any level.
Chopra, who had qualified for the final of the U-20 world championships in first position, threw the javelin to a mark of 79.66 in his first attempt. This was good enough for second place behind South Africa’s Johan Grobler who flung the javelin 80.59m in his first attempt. However, Neeraj then hurled the javelin a massive 86.48m in his very next throw which none of his competitors would come close to matching. Chopra threw a modest 78.36m in his third and final legitimate attempt.
Training under India’s Australian coach Garry Calvert for the last few months, the satisfaction of a world level gold might be tempered by the fact that Chopra missed out on the chance of qualifying for the Rio Olympics. While his throw was far greater than the Olympic qualification standard of 83m, the last date to meet that standard was July 11.
