New Delhi: Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra is set to begin his campaign in the Javelin throw at the ongoing World Athletics Championship 2023 in Budapest (Hungary) on Friday.
As Neeraj takes to the field for upcoming men’s javelin throw qualifier today, a billion hands will go up to pray for his victory.
Neeraj Chopra brought unprecedented glory to the nation, when he fetched Olympic gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and became the only second Indian after shooter Abhinav Bindra to win an individual gold medal.
Before beginning his campaign, Neeraj sounded confident and also talked of his dream of bettering his own record by breaching the 90 metre benchmark.
“Definitely, I’m close. I just need one perfect day with favorable weather conditions and I am confident I’ll be able to achieve the throw,” Neeraj told media ahead of the World Championships, when asked about 90 metre target.
Neeraj in his Olympic bout, had a best throw of 87.58 metres and that fetched him the gold medal. His second best throw also stood at 87.03 metres while that of silver medalist (Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadleich) stood at 86.67 meters.
The men’s javelin final event is set to take place on Sunday.
Neeraj Chopra is placed in Group A of the qualifiers and he has set his sights on winning the first gold at the World championship.
In 2022 Worlds, he won the silver medal. Interestingly, he is just one of the two Indians to have achieved this feat. In 2003, Anju Bobby George earned India’s first medal in the World Athletics Championship, by winning the bronze medal.
This year too, Neeraj is one of the front-runners in the event. As the Olympian says he not only wants to win gold but also better his record, the nation will have its fingers crossed.
