With a throw of 88.77 meters, the Olympic champion broke the
automatic qualification standard of 83.00 meters. Kishore Jena and Manu DP also
advanced to the final. Neeraj Chopra of India won the qualifying round for the
2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and will compete in
the men's javelin throw final there on Saturday.
Neeraj Chopra, who was competing in somewhat cloudy conditions,
recorded a season-best throw of 88.77 meters on his first attempt to earn a
direct entry into the final that was set to take place on Sunday. 83.00m was
the automatic qualifying mark. The Indian athlete, 25, chose not to attempt his
following two efforts.
Neeraj Chopra also surpassed the javelin throw entry
criterion for the Paris 2024 Olympics with a distance of 88.77 meters. Track
and field athletes had until July 1, 2023, to qualify for the Olympics in Paris
in 2024. The men's javelin throw event's entry standard for the next Summer
Games is 85.50 meters.
Meeting the entry standard is only one step in the
qualification procedure for the Olympics. Athletes' selection for the NOC squad
for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 is ultimately up to the National Olympic
Committee.
India's national record in the long jump is held by
Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo 2020 champion and silver medalist at the 2022 World
Championships. The Indian javelin ace set a new season-best at the Doha Diamond
League in May with an 88.67.
Neeraj Chopra remarked after qualifying for the
final, "I had a few excellent throws during my warm-up and I felt
optimistic that I would make it past the first round.
Neeraj stated, "I haven't competed much this
year because I wanted to guard against injuries before this competition."
At the Sunday world championships final, I'll give it everything.
Javelin finalists are Manu DP and Kishore Jena
Manu DP, an Indian athlete, age 23, who competed in
Group A alongside Neeraj Chopra, finished sixth overall in both groups and
earned a spot in the final with a throw of 81.31 meters.
Manu DP, who has a personal best of 84.35m, said,
"My target was to achieve the 85m mark." "I wasn't thinking
about the outcome; instead, I was focused on setting a new personal record.
The Indian continued, "I didn't have the best
warm-ups before the start and I think that affected my performance today."
"Let's watch what happens in the championship,"
With an 80.55m throw, Kishore Jena from Group B
qualified for the 12-man final as well. He came in ninth place overall.
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, the Commonwealth Games
champion, hurled 86.79 meters on his final try to place second overall to
Neeraj Chopra. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who won the silver medal at
Tokyo 2020, finished third with a distance of 83.50. German thrower Julian
Weber, the champion of Europe, finished fourth with 82.39 meters.
Anderson Peters of Grenada, the 2022 world
champion, had a bad day and his best throw only reached a distance of 78.49
meters. He placed 16th out of 36 competitors, missing out on a spot in the
final.
Biography
Neeraj Chopra, an Indian javelin thrower, has
already made history despite his youth by becoming the nation's first and only
track and field athlete to win an Olympic medal, and that to a gold.
After shooter Abhinav Bindra's triumph in the 10m
air rifle event at Beijing 2008, Neeraj Chopra's gold medal at Tokyo 2020
became India's second individual Olympic victory.
Neeraj Chopra entered the men's
javelin competition at the Tokyo Olympics as, at best, a dark horse in a
competitive field that included gold medalist Keshorn Walcott from London 2012,
Johannes Vetter, the clear favorite, and the current world champion Anderson
Peters.
But when it came time for the main
event, the Indian much improved. Neeraj Chopra won the qualifying round with a
throw of 86.65 meters, surpassing Vetter's 85.64 meters.
Neeraj Chopra's first try, which measured 87.03 meters,
put him in the lead, but his second attempt, measuring 87.58 meters, solidified
his position and ultimately earned him the first-ever gold medal.
"The Tokyo Olympics were always my objective.
Since every single effort counts when it comes to accomplishment at the highest
level, I put in the hard work and trusted the process, Neeraj Chopra remarked
following his victory.
The victory marked the end of an amazing, albeit
brief, journey that started with a 13-year-old overweight child taking up
athletics to reduce weight and acquire confidence.
After observing the sport at the Shivaji Stadium in
Panipat, Neeraj Chopra quickly started throwing the javelin. His natural skill
for the sport was evident because he could throw more than 40 meters without
any training.
Jaiveer Choudhary, an Indian javelin thrower, saw
potential in Neeraj Chopra and took him under his wing. For the Haryana boy,
with the right training, there was no turning back.
At the youth level, Neeraj Chopra dominated the
national stage and received numerous international honors. He became well-known
right away after taking home the gold medal at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships
in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
He became the first Indian track and field athlete
to win a world championship at any level and hold a world mark with his winning
throw in Poland, which still stands as the under-20 javelin throw record with a
distance of 86.48 meters.
The attempt would have also qualified Neeraj Chopra
for his first Olympic Games, with the qualifying threshold for the men's
javelin throw event in Rio 2016 set at 83.00m, however, it took place one week
after the qualification deadline had closed. Neeraj Chopra's Rio qualification
campaign has previously been affected by injury.
Neeraj Chopra persisted in flourishing on the world
stage despite this though. Before earning gold at the Gold Coast 2018
Commonwealth Games and the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games, he won the Asian
championship in 2017.
Neeraj Chopra was forced to undergo surgery for his
elbow injury, which kept him out for 16 months and caused him to miss the 2019 World
Championships. However, the Indian quickly recovered after arriving back home
and qualified for Tokyo 2020 at a competition in Potchefstroom, South Africa,
in January 2020.
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to take home a
silver medal at the World Athletics Championships less than a year after his
victory in Tokyo. Neeraj Chopra finished second to the defending champion
Anderson Peters of Grenada at Oregon 2022 with a best throw of 88.31 meters. Peters
recorded a 90.54 meters to successfully retain his title.
After long jumper Anju Bobby George's bronze medal
at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, this was India's second medal at the
worlds.
In addition to holding the men's
javelin throw national record for India since 2016, Chopra, a 2018 Arjuna
Awardee, has continuously improved his scores. The current national record
belongs to Neeraj Chopra, who jumped 89.94 meters in 2022 in the Stockholm
Diamond League.
Neeraj Chopra, who is still in his
early 20s, will be held to higher standards in the wake of his heroics in Tokyo
2020. Neeraj Chopra is a commissioned officer in the Indian Army when he isn't
engaged in athletic competition.