Meet Neeraj Chopra, who brought home Asian Games javelin throw glory

India’s Neeraj Chopra on Monday clinched the gold medal in javelin throw finals at Asian Games 2018 in the Indonesian capital Jakarta Palembang. With this, India’s gold medal talli in this Asian Games has touched eight. Neeraj started with 83.46 metres in his attempt and eventually went on to set a national record of 88.06 in his third attempt.

Neeraj broke his own national record of 87.43 meter which he had set in Doha during the Diamond League series this May.

This is the second javelin throw medal for India in the history of Asiad. Earlier, Gurtej Singh had won a bronze for India in the 1982 Asiad in New Delhi.

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China’s Liu Qizhen won the silver with a best throw of 82.22m, while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem bagged bronze with an 80.75 meter throw.

Chinese Taipei thrower Chao Tsun Cheng, who had recorded a throw of 91.36 meter in 2017 and was expected to be the biggest hurdle between Chopra and his golden dream, could only manage a best throw of 79.81 and finished fifth.

Who is Neeraj Chopra?

Born in a small village named Khandra in Panipat district of Haryana, Neeraj Chopra holds a world junior record in javelin throw, which he had come up with in 2016 World U20 Championships. Chopra was born on 24 December 1997 in Khandra and completed his education from Chandigarh.

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Earlier too, the Haryana lad had created history by winning gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He joined the list of elite Indian athletes to win a gold medal on Commonwealth Games debut.

Currently, Jan Zelezny, a retired Czech track and field athlete holds the world record in men’s Javelin throw with a throw of 98.08 meter.