WATCH: Neeraj Chopra’s FIERY throw that won him a gold medal at the Kuortane Games
Days after winning a silver medal at the Pavo Nurmi Athletics Meet and setting a new national record, Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra on Saturday won gold in the men’s javelin throw with an impressive throw of 86.69m at the 2022 Kuorten Games in Finland. .
Chopra’s first throw, 86.69 metres, was enough to take the top spot on the podium. However, his winning throw was well short of 89.30m – the personal best he had recorded during the Pavo Nurmi Games earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, Neeraj shared a video of his gold medal-winning throw on Instagram and captioned it, “Tough conditions with the weather, but happy to have my first win of the season here in Cuortane. I feel good and can’t wait to start.” Looking forward to my Diamond League season on the 30th at @bauhausgalan. Thanks for all the messages and support.” Watch the video here:
Notably, London 2012 gold medalist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago won the silver with 86.64m, while world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada took the bronze with an effort of 84.75.
Chopra, 24, set the pace of the competition early, taking the lead after a first-round throw with an effort of 86.69m – 0.05m more than Walcott. He failed to register valid attempts with his next two throws and suffered a nasty fall during his third attempt. The Indian was seen winning with pain right after the fall and made no further attempts after that.
Meanwhile, Neeraj’s compatriot, Paralympian Sandeep Choudhary finished eighth with 60.35m. On the other hand, Oliver Helander, who won the gold medal defeating Chopra at the Pavo Nurmi Games, did not start the event.
News from Cuortane: All is well after that bad slip in Neeraj_Chopra1’s third attempt. there is nothing to worry about
Well done #NeerajChopra, congratulations on another top class performance #Indianathletics pic.twitter.com/EaMHJAGi6v – Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) June 18, 2022
Chopra is scheduled to travel to Sweden for the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League ahead of the World Athletics Championships in the US next month and the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.