Neeraj Chopra’s historic 88.13m throw gives India first-ever silver in World Athletics Championships

Neeraj Chopra’s throw of 88.13m in his fourth attempt secured him of not only a podium finish but also ended India’s 29-year-long wait for a medal at the World’s after Anju Bobby George’s bronze medal finish in the women’s long jump way back in 2003.

India’s Neeraj Chopra won the country’s only second medal at the World Athletics Championships, finishing with a historic silver in the men’s javelin final. Neeraj’s throw of 88.13m in his fourth attempt secured him of not only a podium finish but also ended India’s 29-year-long wait for a medal at the World’s after Anju Bobby George’s bronze medal finish in the women’s long jump way back in 2003.

Trailing outside the top three after his first three attempts, Neeraj’s massive throw escalated him to the second position, only behind reigning World Champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who took gold with a humongous throw of 90.54m. In fact, all his attempts breached the 90m-mark.

Neeraj, who required only one attempt in the qualifiers to book his place in the final, was always going to be a strong medal contender, but after his first three attempts, those hopes had partially diminished. Neeraj began with a foul, and followed it with a second attempt of 82.38m. It was accompanied by a huge dream but the throw had more noise than precision. He improved on it with a decent throw of 86.37 in his third but was still outside the top three, behind Peterson, Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic and Germany’s Julian Weber.