Neeraj Chopra: India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra creating history
In the current world rankings, Neeraj is now on top with 1455 points, while Anderson Peters of Granada has slipped to the second spot with 1433 points. Jakub Wadlech of Czech Republic is at the third place with 1416 points.
After creating history by getting India a gold in athletics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has created history yet again. He was the only athlete from India to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and also the first athlete from India to win a gold medal in athletics in the history of the Olympic Games. Now Neeraj has become the new No. 1 athlete in the men’s world rankings by achieving his career best ranking leaving behind the great athlete Anderson Peters and with this ranking Neeraj’s name has been recorded forever in the pages of history. He has become the first athlete from India to achieve this ranking. Neeraj had won the event in the Diamond League held in Doha on May 5 with a throw of 88.67 meters and due to that excellent performance, he has now got the number one position in the world rankings. Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakub Wadlech also finished second in the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.63m while world champion Andersen Peters finished third with a throw of 85.88m.
In the current world rankings, Neeraj is now on top with 1455 points, while Anderson Peters of Granada has slipped to the second spot with 1433 points. Jakub Wadlech of Czech Republic is at the third place with 1416 points. Germany’s Julian Weber is at number four and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan is at number five. Neeraj was ranked second in the world rankings from August 2022 till now, while Anderson Peters was sitting at number 1 for the last 8 months, but after performing brilliantly in the Doha Diamond League match, Neeraj has now become the world’s number one javelin thrower, leaving Peters behind. Are. By the way, Neeraj has been performing amazingly in various international events since creating history at the Tokyo Olympics. Last year, Neeraj became the first Indian athlete to win a silver medal in the World Athletics Championships by winning a silver medal in the World Athletics Championships held in Oregon, USA. India has so far been able to win only two medals in the World Championships. The first time long jumper Anju Bobby George won a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. After that, for 19 years, India was yearning for a medal in the World Championships and that long wait was ended by a golden performance by Neeraj Chopra, who made the final with 88.39m in the qualification at the Oregon World Championships and finished in the medal round. Had created history by winning the silver medal with the best throw of 88.13 metres. It was India’s first silver medal in the history of the World Championships. In the final of that championship, Anderson Peters won the gold medal with a throw of 90.54m, breaking the 90m mark three times to become world champion.
Neeraj also won the Lausanne Diamond League 2022 with his very first throw of 89.08m after becoming the first Indian athlete to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in July 2022 and then becoming the first Indian athlete to win the Diamond League . Then in the Diamond League in Zurich, he won the gold medal by throwing the javelin at a distance of 89.63 meters, which is also his personal best score till date. Because of achieving such successes continuously, he is now being called the harbinger of the unprecedented success of Indian athletics. Now Neeraj aims to touch a distance of 90 meters with his javelin. By the way, Neeraj Chopra, born on December 24, 1997 in Khandra village of Panipat district of Haryana in the house of a small farmer, has won many big championships even before creating history in Tokyo Olympics. Serving in the Indian Army, Neeraj has already proved his mettle by winning gold medals in some of the biggest mega sports events before registering a matchless victory in the Olympics. Neeraj has won gold medals in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships, South Asian Games and World Junior Championships. So far in the history of Asian Games, India has got only two medals in javelin and Neeraj is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in Asian Games. Before him, in the year 1982, Gurtej Singh got the bronze medal.
However, Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics and recorded a golden history in India’s account in the Olympic Games, has been awarded the Padma Shri. In 2021, he has won the National Khel Ratna Award, the silver medal in the World Athletics Championships, besides gold and silver medals in some other events. Neeraj is expected to perform well in many upcoming tournaments this year as well. The Golden Spike Ostrava on 27 June, the Lausanne Diamond League on 30 June, the Monaco Diamond League on 21 July, the World Athletics Championships Hungary on 19–27 August, the Zurich Diamond League on 31 August, the Yunis Diamond League Final on 16–17 September and the 23 Will participate in the Asian Games to be held from 8th to 10th October. Neeraj Chopra says that now he aims to maintain this consistency in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is hopeful that he will remain No.1 in the next events as well and will continue to perform better this season. However, it should be expected that Neeraj will continue to make India proud with his golden performances in various events to come.
– Yogesh Kumar Goyal
(The author is a senior journalist continuously active in journalism for 33 years)
