Eugene: Neeraj Chopra has once again achieved a historic success. He became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, USA. Neeraj became the second Indian to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships after Anju Bobby George won a bronze medal in the Women’s Lambdain (Paris, France) in 2003.
After 19 long years, an Indian won a medal in the world athletics competition, there was a wave of happiness across the country. 24-year-old Neeraj has made India famous in Asian sports, state team sports and Tokyo Olympics, but now he has brought pride and glory to the country from world Athletics Championships. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to many sportsmen of the country, actors, actresses and politicians have congratulated him for this extraordinary achievement.
On Sunday morning, while the entire country was getting ready to welcome a new day, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Neeraj was busy making history in America. In the excitement and joy of entering the final of the World Championships for the first time, he was disqualified in his first throw. His throw was disallowed for carelessly crossing the scratch line.
He threw a valid throw of 82.39 meters in the second attempt. It was well below his personal best. Even after the third attempt (86.37m), this Haryana hero was in twelfth place. He was far from a medal. In the end, using all his strength, he jumped from twelfth to second place by touching a distance of 88.13 meters in the fourth throw. After not being successful in his last two throws, it was only on the strength of the fourth throw that the silver medalist and Asian Games champion Neeraj won the silver medal.