Neeraj Chopra continued to break new ground as he took the one gold medal missing from his decorated trophy cabinet, but most of his compatriots were flattered to deceive again at the World Championships in Athletics. Indian athletes have so far won a total of three medals in the major event, of which Chopra accounted for two: one silver and one gold. Legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George had won bronze in the 2003 edition. On Sunday night, the man with the golden arm made history again when he threw the javelin to a distance of 88.17 meters to become the first Indian to win the coveted yellow metal at the World Athletics Championships.
However, the men’s spear gold is expected to be the only medal the Indian contingent will take home from Budapest. Despite reaching the finals in four events, the harsh reality is that no Indian other than Chopra was considered a serious contender.
The last edition, six Indians had reached the final. And there was not much change in the number of Indians who qualified for the finals this year.
Those who reached the finals were javelin throwers Chopra, DP Manu ad Kishore Jena, 3000 meter steeplechase Parul Chaudhary, long jumper Jeswin Aldrin and the men’s relay team.
There was enough disappointment for the Indians this time, however.
Much was expected of the long jump. The duo of Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar had entered the competition as the season leader. However, the former finished 11th, while the latter failed to make it to the final.
Similarly, 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable was tipped as one of the best Indian performers after Chopra, but the national record holder botched his heat and crashed out of the event.
“Last time was good. If you compare this time to last year, the athletes were different. We did very well in the 4x400m relay and broke the Asian record. This time there were new athletes and they brought new hope. We will prepare very well for the Olympics,” Chopra said.
“I know how those who couldn’t give their best this time feel. They prepared in the best way possible, but I would tell them not to be disappointed because they gave their best. The only thing is that they discover the mistake and not repeat it again,” he added.
The men’s team in the 4x400m relay to smash the Asian record, an unprecedented three javelin throwers to finish in the top six and Parul Chaudhary to break the national record in the women’s 3000m spire and qualify for the Paris Olympics were the other fine sports in India’s otherwise mediocre performance at the World Event. .
Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh had broken the Asian record in a stunning race, clocking 2 minutes and 59.05 seconds to qualify for the first final, where the Indians finished in a creditable fifth place. finished with a time of 2:59.92.
Minutes earlier, Chaudhary surpassed the Paris qualifying mark (9:23.00) and created a new national record of 9:15.31s en route to her 11th-place finish.
In a first-place finish, three Indians finished in the top six in the men’s javelin throw with Kishore Jena, who recorded a personal best of 84.77m, and DP Manu (84.14m) finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
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