India’s star javelin thrower, Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will be in action today, August 25, at the World Athletics Championships 2023, Budapest, Hungary. He will be taking the centre stage in the Group A qualifiers at 1:40 pm IST. The Indian athlete will be competing 18th in the order of play.
Neeraj Chopra has brought numerous glories to India, including an maiden Olympics Gold medal in Javelin. At the 2022 World Athletics Championship in Oregon, Neeraj came close to clinching the gold, but had to settle for a silver, finishing behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters. The World No 1 men’s javelin thrower in the World Athletics rankings currently, will surely be eyeing the gold this year.
It was, however, India’s first-ever silver medal at the World Athletics Championships and the country’s second medal at the global showpiece after Anju Bobby George’s long jump bronze at Paris in 2003.
Last year, on August 26, Neeraj became the first Indian to win the Lausanne Diamond League with a massive throw of 89.08 metres and qualified for the Diamond League final. Later, he went on to win the Diamond League.
Neeraj has already won gold at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. He is also the Diamond League champion. However, he has yet to win a top prize in the World Championships. Last year, he came really close to clinching the gold last year but had to settle for a silver, coming behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters.
In addition to Neeraj, Manu DP and Kishore Jena will also be representing India at the Championship in the Javelin Men’s Qualifying round and make their mark on their debut world championships. While Manu, who won the silver at the Asian Athletics Championships this year in Bangkok, is in Group A with Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Jena is in Group B.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, reigning Commonwealth Games champion, is also listed to compete at the Championships.