Silver medalist Neeraj Chopra, of India, poses during a medal ceremony for the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP/PTI)
Eugene, July 24 (PTI) The gold eluded him but with a landmark silver here, Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra still created history one more time, becoming only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to win a medal in the World Championships.
The 24-year-old Chopra, who had come into the showpiece as a hot medal favourite, produced a best throw of 88.13m, which came in the fourth round, to finish second behind defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada (90.54m).
Legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to win a medal -- bronze -- in the World Championships in the 2003 edition in Paris.
It was a nervy and unusual start for Chopra, as he opened with a foul throw and had 82.39m and 86.37m to be at fourth after three rounds.
But, to the big relief of the Indian contingent, and the legions of his fans back home, he got his rhythm back as he came up with a big fourth round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort, to jump to second place, which he held on to till the end.
His fifth and sixth throws were fouls.
Chopra had won gold in Tokyo Olympics last year with a second round throw of 87.58m and had just needed a first round effort of 88.39m to qualify for the finals at second place here.
His silver saw India featuring in the medal table of the worlds for the first time in nearly two decades. India were placed at joint 28th in the standings.
The usual big smile was back as Chopra, the son of a farmer from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana, did the 'calm-down' gesture and showed the victory sign with his right hand.
Chopra was, however, no match for Grenada's gold winner Anderson Peters, who produced a massive 90.54m throw to defend the title he had won in the last edition in 2019 in Doha.
Peters, also 24, became only the second man in javelin history to defend World Championships title after the legendary Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic who had won gold in 1993 and 1995 editions.
Peters was a class of his own in the final as he had three massive 90m-plus throws. He opened with 90.21m and then sent his spear to 90.46m in his second attempt. After a series of 87.21m, 88.11m and 85.83m in his next three throws, his javelin soared and landed at a distance of 90.54m in his last attempt to seal the win in style.
Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic took the bronze with 88.09m.
Chopra received his silver from the hands of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille Sumariwalla during the victory ceremony amid loud cheers from several Indians at the stands, including the other athletes.
Chopra had topped the Group A qualification round and made the final at second place behind Peters by sending his spear to 88.39m for his third career-best throw. Peters had topped Group B with an effort of 89.91m.
The other Indian in the fray, Rohit Yadav finished at 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit had finished 11th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.
The 21-year-old Rohit had recorded a season's and personal best of 82.54m while winning a silver at the National Inter-State Championships last month.
Chopra had won Indian athletics' maiden gold in the Tokyo Olympics last year. He is only the second Indian to have won an individual gold in the Olympics, after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who clinched the yellow metal in 2008 Beijing Games.
Chopra burst onto the international scene with a gold in the 2016 World Junior Championships. He is currently the reigning Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist. He has also won a gold in 2017 Asian Championships.
With one silver and five finals, this is India's best-ever performance in the Athletics World Championships.
India's Eldhose Paul finished ninth in the men's triple jump final while the 4x400m relay team ended 12th overall.
The 25-year-old Paul produced a best jump of 16.79m in the three attempts he had, and failed to make it to the top eight. His series read 16.37, 16.79 and 13.86m. Only the top eight finishers after three rounds get three more jumps.
Paul had become the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final after finishing 12th overall in the qualification round with an effort of 16.68m.
Paul, who reached here just a few days ago due to visa issues, has a season's and personal best of 16.99m which he had recorded while winning gold in the Federation Cup in April.
Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo of Portugal won the gold medal with a best jump of 17.95m while last edition bronze medallist Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso and Tokyo Games silver winner Zhu Yaming of China finished second and third with best efforts of 17.55m and 17.31m respectively.
In the men's 4x400m relay, India finished sixth and last in heat number one and 12th overall.
The quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, Naganathan Pandi and Rajesh Ramesh clocked 3:07.29.
The top three in each and the next two fastest across the two heats qualify for the finals.
PM Modi leads way as India rejoices Neeraj Chopra's historic silver
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to India's first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, the country on Sunday rejoiced Neeraj Chopra's landmark silver medal at the World Athletics Championships, calling it a "special moment".
The 24-year-old Chopra, who had entered the showpiece as a hot medal favourite in javelin throw, produced a best throw of 88.13m to finish second behind defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada (90.54m) and become only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to win a medal at the World Championships.
"A great accomplishment by one of our most distinguished athletes! Congratulations to @Neeraj_chopra1 on winning a historic Silver medal at the #WorldChampionships. This is a special moment for Indian sports. Best wishes to Neeraj for his upcoming endeavours," PM Modi tweeted.
Hailing the reigning Olympic champion's achievement, Bindra wrote on his Twitter handle, "Many congratulations @Neeraj_chopra1 for your silver at the worlds! You make us proud. Well done and the best for the rest of the season."
Legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to win a medal -- bronze -- in the World Championships in the 2003 edition in Paris.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh too joined the country in praising Chopra and said India is elated by his "stupendous performance".
"India is elated by the stupendous performance by Subedar @Neeraj_chopra1. Congratulations to him on winning Silver Medal at the #WorldAthleticsChampionships in Eugene, Oregon. His hard work, grit and determination have yielded outstanding results. We are proud of him."
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur was also delighted at Chopra continuing his medal- winning streak at the global arena.
"Neeraj Chopra continues his winning streak! Wins in Men's javelin throw at @WCHoregon22 with his best throw of 88.13m, becoming the 1st Indian male and 2nd Indian to win a medal at the #WorldChampionships! Neeraj has now won medal at every Global event!" Thakur tweeted.
Uploading a photo of her with the champion javelin thrower, Anju Bobby George wrote, "Congratulations @Neeraj_chopra1 for that magic moment..N welcome to the group..it was a long wait.Thanks to @afiindia @Media_SAI @ianuragthakur for all the support."
Not to be left behind was the legendary P T Usha, who wrote, "Congratulations to @Neeraj_chopra1 for winning the silver at 2022 World Athletics Championships for our country. Your best efforts have made our country proud in the world. Keep the flag flying high. Jai Hind."
Indian hockey team's ace goalkeeper P R Sreejesh said, "Congratulation brother @Neeraj_chopra1. You are a motivation for billions of people."
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) also congratulated Chopra on his stupendous performance.
It was a nervy start for Chopra as he opened with a foul before registering 82.39m and 86.37m to be at fourth after three rounds.
But, to the relief of the Indian contingent, and the legions of his fans back home, he got his rhythm back as he came up with a big fourth round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort, to jump to second place, which he held on to till the end.
His fifth and sixth throws were fouls.
Chopra had won gold in Tokyo Olympics last year with a second round throw of 87.58m and had just needed a first round effort of 88.39m to qualify for the finals at second place here.
His silver saw India featuring in the medal table of the worlds for the first time in nearly two decades. India were placed at joint 28th in the standings.
