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On his first try, he tossed the javelin 89.08m to win the Javelin throw contest in his unique method. Neeraj Chopra, the twenty-four-year-old Indian sportsman, withdrew from Birmingham Commonwealth Games in Birmingham the previous month owing to a small injury while earning silver at World Championships. After a month of recovery, he made a stunning recovery. Neeraj Chopra’s 89.08m shot was his 3rd career-best performance, and an 85.18m throw followed it. His 4th throw became foul, and he threw his fifth try until he reached 80.04m distance in his last attempt. And the Haryana native became the first Indian player to win the Diamond League title.
Key Takeaways
- Neeraj Chopra has become the 1st Indian to have won a Diamond League event. “This victory is critical for the country,” Chopra remarked. “I believe we should not focus just on occurrences that occur after 4 or two years”
- Neeraj Chopra faced variable conditions at the La Pontaise Olympic stadium in his maiden competition after earning silver at World Athletics Championships in July to produce an amazing 89.08m throw on his first try
- The performance also enabled Neeraj Chopra to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023
About The Match
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian man to top the Diamond League match by throwing 89.08m in his first attempt at the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday.
The Olympic gold medalist failed to improve his throw in his second attempt and posted a distance of 85.18m. Chopra, who missed the third toss, fouled in the fourth attempt.
He threw 80.04m on his last attempt. Chopra finished second in the Diamond League earlier this year in Stockholm, with a great throw of 89.94m.
With Friday’s performance, he qualified for the Finals of Diamond League and the 2023 World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sept 7-8 with a qualifying score of 8520m. Chopra is fourth in the Diamond League with seven points. It should be noted that after the “Diamond League,” only the top 6 with the highest score will advance to the finals.
Who Exactly is Neeraj Chopra?
India’s javelin throw player Neeraj Chopra who will become the country’s first gold medallist in athletics in Tokyo on August 7, 2021, was born in a farmer’s family in Handra village nearby Panipat, Haryana, on December 24, 1997. He is a graduate of Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Chandigarh.
His mother, Saroj Devi, is a housewife, while his father, Satish Kumar, is a farmer. Neeraj Chopra, who was overweight, was always encouraged to play sports by his family. Later, he opted to compete in the javelin and began training at Panipat’s Shivaji Stadium. Neeraj Chopra, a 23-year-old, was enrolled at Tau Devi Lal Sports Centre in Panchkula after a year of training, where his instructor, Naseem Ahmad, taught him the long javelin.
Achievements of Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj Chopra won an Under-16 National Championship before the end of the year 2012. In 2014, he won his first medal at the international level (silver) in the qualification round at the Youth Olympic Games in Bangkok. In 2015, he got his 1st medal at the Senior National Championships by throwing 77.33m in the weekly event in Chennai.
A few months later, he won gold in the National Championship in Kolkata. Neeraj Chopra created history in 2016 by winning the gold title at the South Asian Games in Guwahati with a shot of 82.23 metres.
He developed his abilities under the supervision of Gary Calvert, Uwe Hohn, and Werner Daniels. The Indian Army was impressed by his performance in various national and international tournaments and decided to appoint him as a junior officer in 2017. He was promised a straight position as a Rajputana Rifles junior commissioner with the grade of “Naib Subedar.”
Chopra got chosen to enrol at Mission Olympic Wing and Army Sports Academy situated in Pune upon joining the Army. Mission Olympic Wing seems to be an Indian Army project that discovers and develops future athletes in 11 different sports categories for national & international tournaments. With a season’s best of 86.47m, he won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and launched a personal record of 87.43m at Diamond League in Doha that year. On August 27, Neeraj won the gold medal at the Asian Games by throwing 88.06m. The player missed eight months of 2019 due to an elbow injury.
Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games
On August 7, 2021, Neeraj Chopra won India’s first Olympic gold medal. He had the highest leap of 87.58m, his second gold medal for the Indian national team at the Tokyo Olympics. After Abhinav Bindra, he is the 2nd Indian to earn an individual gold medal. He qualified for the Olympics by throwing 87.86 metres in the ACNE League. He passed the 85m Olympic qualification at the fourth chance, earning first place in the international competition. He initially threw a javelin of 81.76m and improved with each throw. He threw 82 yards on his second attempt and 82.57 yards on his third attempt.
