Neeraj Chopra touches 90 m mark, becomes India’s ultimate “won it all” athlete

Doha [Qatar], May 17 (ANI): India’s world champion and Olympic gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finally became the first from his country to touch the 90 m mark, a milestone much talked about, during the Doha Diamond League on Friday.

With his 90.23 metres throw at the season-starting event, Neeraj stands in second place to Germany’s Julian Weber, who delivered a monstrous throw of 91.06 m in the final set of throws to topple the Indian.

Nonetheless, Neeraj, with a new national record of 90.23 m (breaking his record of 89.94 set during the Stockholm Diamond League 2022), and by becoming the first Indian to achieve the coveted mark, which was so much discussed and debated in the media, stands at the top among all Indian athletes.

Neeraj rose as a youngster with gold medals in the South Asian and World U20 Championships (2016), an Asian U20 Championships silver (2016), and an Asian Championships gold (2017).

His first breakthrough came at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, where with an effort of 86.47 m, he became the first-ever Indian javelin thrower to win a gold medal.

In the Asian Games that year, Neeraj also became the country’s first javelin thrower to land an Asian Games gold with a throw of 88.04 m.

It was his Tokyo Olympics medal that gave Neeraj the high-profile status he enjoys today. On that historic day of August 7, when Neeraj launched his javelin 87.58 m in the air, it also launched his career into the next stratosphere of stardom. Came a plenty of advertisement offers, endorsements, media mics, social media followers, etc, but it did not disturb ‘The Zone’ of a champion.

During the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Eugene, US, he became the first Indian male to secure a medal, winning the silver medal at the championships with a throw of 88.13 m. He was the second Indian medalist at the event after Anju Bobby George (bronze in 2003).

In Zurich later that year, in September, he became the first-ever Indian to become the Diamond League champion, with a throw of 88.44 m.

The next year was a bumper one for Neeraj as, with a throw of 88.17 m at Budapest, Neeraj became India’s first-ever athletics world champion. In the same year, he defended his Asian Games title in Hangzhou.

During the Paris Olympics next year in August, Neeraj was expected to defend his title, heading into the event as a hot favourite due to his consistency. However, only one of his throws (of 89.45 m) was deemed legit as he came second after a shockingly monstrous throw of 92.97 m from arch-rival Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan, which became an Olympic record.

Struggling with some injuries, Neeraj came all fired up. After spending enough time away from the game to heal from his injuries, and now under a new coach, Jan Zelezny, Neeraj finally made up for the slight disappointment of Paris by touching the 90 m mark for the first time at Doha during the Diamond League.

With this throw, one could safely say Neeraj has done it all. Surely, there are many more events to compete in and many more golds to add, but he has ticked all the boxes.

Several legendary Indian players have left behind some unfulfilled goals. Sania Mirza, the one who put Indian women’s tennis on the map, could not go the distance in a singles Grand Slam. Rahul Dravid, one of the greatest batters of his generation, could not win a World Cup as a player despite all his excellence. The likes of Sunil Chhetri and Bhaichung Bhutia, despite their immense footballing talent, could not have helped India qualify for the FIFA World Cup during their playing days. Most recently, Virat Kohli, proclaimed as an ambassador of Test cricket, called curtains on his days in the format without touching the prestigious 10,000 run mark.

But Neeraj has perhaps not left anything to be desired. Fans would no doubt keep wanting more, perhaps they would like the world record to his name, but he has joined the list of rare Indian sportspersons who have done it all and won it all. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)

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