Indian ‪javelin‬ thrower ‪Neeraj Chopra‬ creates a new junior world record

Indian ‪javelin‬ thrower ‪Neeraj Chopra‬ creates a new junior world record by throwing 86.48 m. File Pic
Indian ‪javelin‬ thrower ‪Neeraj Chopra‬ creates a new junior world record by throwing 86.48 m. File Pic

Internet Desk: India got its first gold medalist in any World Athletics Championship as Neeraj Chopra won the gold setting new world record. Neeraj set a record by throwing 86.48 m in the javelin throwing event of IAAF World’s Under-20 Athletics Championship at Poland on Saturday.

Previously India had no record of winning gold in any World Athletics Championship. The 18-years old student of DAV College, Chandigarh broke the record yesterday. Not only he set a record for India, he stunned the world by throwing such a distance which has also crossed the previous world record by a big margin.

The senior world record previously was 84.69m by Zigismunds Sirmais of Latvia. Neeraj yesterday scored 86.48m in his second attempt. The distance he covered is nearly two meters ahead of the previous record. He also broke the existing national senior record of 82.23 m in the name of Rajinder Singh.

“I was hoping to throw far but I never expected to throw over 86 metres and break the world Under-20 record,” Chopra said after his sensational effort. On Saturday in his first attempt Neeraj threw 79.66 m. After the first throw he was trailed by Johan Grobler of South Africa. However, this was for a very short time being. In his second throw Neeraj scored the best throw which made him beat all the contenders of the Under-20 Championship.

Chopra’s throw is the eighth best among all javelin throwers this year. He is also ahead of defending Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, whose best in 2016 is 86.35 m.

After losing the chance to qualify for the Rio Olympics, Neeraj is definitely happy with his performance. The entry standard for Rio Olympics men’s javelin was set at 83m and the deadline of July 11 has already passed. Chopra entered the World Under-20 Championships as the season leader after his national record equalising effort of 82.23 m while winning gold in the South Asian Games in Guwahati in February. “My target was to qualify for the Olympics but I did not make it. My other goal was to win at the World Under-20 Championships,” added Neeraj.

After his success coach Garry Calvert said, “In the last one year, Neeraj has made astronomical improvement. But I don’t think it should stop. The best guys in the youth categories kept improving. There’s no reason, why he shouldn’t. In a year, with a bit of luck, he could be throwing something special”. Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakhs for Neeraj.