Neeraj Chopra: A World Champion in Athletics 2023
Neeraj Chopra did really amazing in the world of sports last night. He became the winner of the IAAF World Athletics Championships 2023 in the men’s javelin event.
He threw the javelin the best and farthest, reaching a distance of 88.17 meters.
This victory of Neeraj Chopra made him the world champion, and now he is the first Indian to win this special gold medal in the world. And last year Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal as well.
The contest was very close. Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan came in second place, just very close behind, with a throw that went 87.82 meters. Jakub Valence from the Czech Republic got the third place award, throwing the javelin a distance of 86.67 meters.
Something amazing happened for India too. Two other Indian athletes, Kishore Kumar Jena, and DP Manu, did really well. They came in fifth and sixth place. Jena did his best ever with a throw of 84.77 meters and Kishore Kumar did 84.14m.
The Olympic champion becomes the javelin throw world champion ☄️
🇮🇳's @Neeraj_chopra1 throws 88.17m to upgrade last year's silver medal into glittering gold in Budapest 👏#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/8K1mIvcYmF
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 27, 2023
This is a proud moment for our India because this is the first time that, three athletes from India have been in the top six in a global event.
Neeraj Chopra started off really strong. It was his second throw that was the best. He made a few throws, and the marks were like this: one throw went outside the lines, and then he threw it 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m, and 83.98m.
After the competition, Neeraj said, “On my first try, I wanted to throw far, but there were some problems.
And because my first throw wasn’t good, I felt some pressure, but I pushed myself.
I was thinking about my injury, which kept me out for most of the season.
I was very careful, and I couldn’t run at my full speed.
When I can’t run as fast, I can’t throw as far.
So, now my goal is to get completely better and throw even farther.”
Neeraj thanked all the people in India for staying up late to watch him.
Neeraj Chopra said, “This medal belongs to my all India.
I was the champion in the Olympics earlier but now I am the champion in the world
This shows that we Indians can do anything. Keep working hard in different fields, and we’ll make our nation (India) proud.”
In another event, Parul Chaudhary did really well in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. She came in 11th place with a time of 9 minutes and 15.31 seconds.
She’s the second Indian to get to the final in a track event like this. Another Indian, Lalita Babar, did it in the 2015 event in the same steeplechase.
Parul’s performance was also good enough to get her a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He finished the race in 2 minutes and 59.92 seconds to come fifth.
It was a bit slower than how they did on Saturday.
The gold medal went to the USA team, which clocked 2 minutes and 57.31 seconds.
Then came France, Great Britain, and Jamaica.
