Neeraj Chopra bags bronze medal at Kuortane Games

Helsinki [Finland]: Tokyo-bound javelin thrower from India, Neeraj Chopra on Saturday won the bronze medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland.

Neeraj Chopra’s 86.79m throw helped him finish behind world number one and 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany and London 2012 gold medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, reported the official Olympics website.

Neeraj Chopra threw an 83.12m in his first throw and improved it to 86.79m with his second attempt. The Indian’s remaining four throws were fouls. But he had done enough to pip reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada (83.46m) for the bronze.

Johannes Vetter clinched gold with a massive 93.59m throw, while Walcott’s silver-winning effort measured 89.12m – the season’s best for the two-time Olympic medallist. Both Vetter and Walcott will be two of the big medal-favourites at the Tokyo 2020 men’s javelin throwing event.

Neeraj Chopra came into the Kuortane meet on the back of back-to-back gold medals in Europe. His first was at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa in Portugal with an 83.18m throw and the second at the Karlstad leg of the Folksam Grand Prix in Sweden with an 80.96m attempt.

Though Neeraj did not win gold in Finland, he gave his best performance in his European tour so far. The distance, however, was short of his personal best of 88.07m – also a national record – at the third Indian Grand Prix in March.