NEW DELHI: Neeraj Chopra’s tryst with history was complete when he won the javelin gold at the World Athletic Championships at Budapest, in Hungary, on August 27. Not only did Neeraj become the first Indian athlete to win gold at the Worlds, he also completed the ‘Golden Grand Slam’ – having won gold at the Olympics, Asian and the Commonwealth Games earlier.
With such a stellar performance, Neeraj has ensured his place in the annals of not just Indian athletics but also World athletics. With the Paris Olympics less than a year away, he is the overwhelming favourite to defend the gold which he won in Tokyo 2020. For India, it was not merely Neeraj’s gold that was the talking point in the javelin event; the superlative performance of Kishore Jena and DP Manu, who finished fifth and sixth respectively, was also a big statement.
The outstanding performance of the Indian 4X400m men’s relay team was another major takeaway of the championships. The quartet comprising Mohd Anas, Amol Jacob, Mohd Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh finished fifth.
The magnitude of their performance can be gauged from the fact that never before had an Indian relay team even qualified for the final rounds. The quartet also shattered the Asian record making them favourites for the next Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou (China) in September.
