On Tuesday, October 4, Neeraj Chopra added another gold feather to his illustrious cap after winning a gold medal for India in the men’s javelin throw finals at the 19th edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China with a throw of 88.88 meters, which is his season best.
Neeraj recorded his best throw of 88.88 m in his fourth attempt and kept his lead intact till the very end.
India’s javelin thrower Kishore Jena stunned the country by giving a fair share of competition to his countrymate Neeraj Chopra as he registered a throw of 87.54 m, his personal best, in his fourth attempt. Jena finished second to bring home the silver medal for India.
India’s Kishore qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics men’s javelin throw event with an 86.77m throw in Hangzhou, China on Wednesday. The other opponents were nowhere near Neeraj and Jena.
With this remarkable victory, India’s ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, also the reigning Olympic and world champion, comfortably defended his men’s javelin throw title at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Wednesday.
The men’s javelin throw event featured Neeraj Chopra and his compatriot Kishore Jena. Notably, after the first two attempts, Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena continued to stay in the top two positions in the javelin throw event.
Neeraj Chopra becomes first Indian to win Gold at World Athletics Championships
Prior to this, in August this year, Neeraj Chopra etched history by winning the country’s first-ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary’s Budapest. Neeraj had recorded his best throw of 88.17 m in his second attempt and kept his lead intact till the very end.
Meanwhile, India surpassed its last best medal haul of 70 medals at the Asian Games on Day 11 of the Asian Games after archery pair Ojas Pravin and Jyothi Surekha clinched the gold medal in the mixed team compound finals. Now, with Neeraj Chopra’s tremendous win India’s total medal tally stands at 80.
In the previous-best edition at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, the Indian contingent returned with 70 medals including 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze.