Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won his maiden medal with a huge throw of 89.94m at the prestigious Diamond League Meet in Stockholm on Thursday. With that mark, which he achieved in his first attempt, 24-year-old Chopra broke his own national record of 89.30m, which he set earlier this month at the Pavo Nurmi Games in Turku. Chopra also had a throw meet record, until World Champion Anderson Peters of Granada threw 90.31m in his third attempt to set a new meet record.
Ultimately, Chopra failed to better his first attempt and ended up with a silver medal. His other throws measured 84.37 metres, 87.46 metres, 84.77 metres, 86.67 and 86.84 metres. Peters won the gold while Germany’s Julian Weber took the bronze with a throw of 89.08m in his fifth attempt.
This was Chopra’s first competition at the Diamond League meet after finishing fourth with an effort of 85.73m in Zurich in August 2018. He has participated in seven Diamond League meets – three in 2017 and four in 2018. He finished two fourths, the second being in Doha in May 2018, where he threw 87.43m.
The prestigious one-day meet in the Swedish capital is Chopra’s biggest competition ahead of the World Championships in Eugene, US, next month. Chopra is the first Indian to win a gold medal in athletics at the Olympics.
Chopra had recently told the media that he would not put himself under pressure with the idea of throwing beyond 90 meters and would try to climb to the top slowly during the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA. .
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Earlier, after setting a new national record at the Pavo Nurmi Games, Chopra had said: “I am happy with my performance. This was my first event of the season, so I am happy to start the season on a high. Mine. My performance here has given me a lot of confidence.”
“Going forward, I am looking to work on my technique, throws and overall performance. I am in a happy place at the moment and I want to do well in the upcoming events,” India’s Golden Boy continued.
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