Bought ticket to see Neeraj in Paris: Dutch para world javelin champion Roorda
Bought ticket to see Neeraj in Paris: Dutch para world javelin champion Roorda
India's Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem delivered performances for the ages.
'I didn't know it would be gold, unbelievable feeling' says javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra after his gold medal-winning feat.
Chopra had set a new national record of 89.94m, just 6cm shy of the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin throw, at the prestigious Diamond League in Stockholm last month en route to a silver medal.
Neeraj Chopra is set to switch his training base from Turkey to Finland which will host the Paavo Nurmi Games
Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra expects to breach the coveted 90m mark this year but doesn't want to think about "distance" going into the World Athletics Championships, in Eugene, United States.
'Neeraj's gold medal can be a turning point for the game in India. India's first Olympic medal in track and field and that too a gold.'
Neeraj Chopra created history on August, becoming the first Indian to win a gold in track and field at the Olympics. He threw the javelin to a distance of 87.58m to pick the yellow metal at the Tokyo Games. The 23-year-old athlete is only behind German athlete Johannes Vetter who has a 1396 score as per the latest update issued by World Athletics.
Vetter is the favourite to claim gold, while Chopra is being seen as India's best bet to end the country's Olympic medal drought in athletics.
Chopra threw a personal best 89.30m at last month's Paavo Nurmi Games before improving it to 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League.
World champion and season leader Anderson Peters of Grenada won the competition with a best throw of 90.31m which he came up with in this third attempt.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will be primed to breach the 90m mark during the Kuortane Games in Finland on Saturday after his spectacular return to action in Turku where he had sent his spear to 89.30m for a new national record.
Chopra had said in recent media interactions that he would not put himself under pressure with the thought of throwing beyond 90m and would look to build up gradually to peak during the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA.
Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished at a respectable fifth position in a 10-man elite field after producing a best effort of 84.67m at the prestigious Diamond League in Paris on Sunday.
Neeraj ran in fast, did the crossover. The javelin flew out of his hands and he did not look towards the sector. He just knew he had bettered the first attempt. The moment the javelin left his hand, he knew he had done it.
Javelin thrower needed just a few seconds to make that cut, sending the spear well past the direct qualifying mark of 83.50m in his first attempt at the Tokyo Olympics, on Wednesday.
Buoyed by a strong start to the season, Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is primed to clinch his maiden Diamond League podium finish in his first appearance in four years in the prestigious one-day meet in Stockholm on Thursday.
Indian javelin thrower Davinder Singh Kang finished 12th at the World Championships in London on Saturday.
India was aiming for an Olympic qualification as the eight finalists get an automatic berth for next year's Tokyo Games.
Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei, American Ryan Crouser (shot put), German Johannes Vetter (javelin) and Norwegian Karsten Warholm (400m hurdles) were the other male finalists at the virtual ceremony.
Neeraj Chopra scripted history in Tokyo on Saturday, winning the men's Javelin Throw and ending India's wait for an elusive medal in athletics at the Olympics.
Competing in his first Olympics, Chopra took just a few seconds to make to the final round, to be held on Saturday, sending the spear well past the qualifying mark of 83.50 metres during the Group A qualifications.
Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra shattered his own national record by clearing a distance of 87.43m en route finishing fourth in a star-studded field in the season opening Diamond League series meeting, in Doha, on Friday.
Anderson Peters of Grenada and Tokyo Olympics silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic had come up with 93.07m and 90.88m throws respectively
'My approach has been to do my best on the day according to the situation'
A pre-tournament medal contender, the 23-year-old Neeraj Chopra fuelled the country's expectations by topping the qualification round with a stunning first round throw of 86.59 metres.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's coach Klaus Bartonietz says the Olympic champion has rectified most of the shortcomings in his technique and now the endeavour is to maintain technical "stability" to touch greater heights in the coming years.
Neeraj Chopra has set his eyes at achieving a distance of 90m consistently to enhance his chances of winning a medal at the Olympics.
Chopra said he has missed the "natural feeling" of being in a world-class field, except for one occasion, in the run up to the Games which opens on July 23 -- that one time was the Kuortane Games event in Finland on June 26 where he won a bronze with a performance of 86.79m in a star-studded field comprising, among others, Olympics gold favourite German Johannes Vetter, who won the event with a massive throw of 93.59m.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has installed a special strength-building German machine for the use of the country's elite javelin throwers like Olympic-bound Neeraj Chopa and Shivpal Singh at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in Patiala.
Before joining national camp in early 2015, he was training at Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula after being shifted from Shivaji Stadium at Panipat.
'There was no pressure and I was taking it (Olympics) just like any other event. It was like I have played against these athletes before and there's no reason to worry. I was able to focus on my performance. That has helped me win gold.'
Australia's Sally Pearson completed one of the great sporting comebacks when she overcame two years of injury agony to win the world 100 metres hurdles title at the age of 30.
She threw a distance of 63.72m in the women's discus throw at the National Inter-State #Athletics Championship to punch her ticket to the Games.
The list of Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's admirers has grown with reigning World champion Johannes Vetter predicting a bright future for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Laggards at the world stage, the 27-member Indian team was not expected to win any medal but it performed better than expected in this World Championships with three finalists.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
The 19-year-old Indian junior world record holder did not attempt his fifth and final throws due to the injury and his first round effort of 83.80m fetched him a seventh place finish in a strong eight-man field in Zurich on Thursday.
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