India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has created another history by winning a gold at the World Athletics Championships, becoming the first Indian to achieve this remarkable feat. Even though his fans across the globe are proud of his latest achievement, it was his gesture towards Pakistani Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem that made us prouder.
Remarkable gesture
In a video circulated in social media, the Indian javelin thrower can be seen hugging his Pakistani counterpart after a tough competition. And as the cameras started rolling in, Nadeem was in the frame. However, the big-hearted Chopra soon invited him to take the photo alongside him.
It is important to note here that Nadeem, who stood second behind Chopra in the Championship, is the first athlete from his country to achieve this remarkable feat. While Chopra’s best throw was 88.17 metres on his second attempt, the second placed Nadeem threw 87.82 metres on his third attempt.
Earlier, Chopra started off with a foul, but soon jumped to top spot to claim the winner’s podium and continued to lead till the very end. Nadeem also gave a tough fight eventually to grab the second spot. In a total of five rounds, he threw javelins at 88.17metre, 86.32metre, 84.64metre, 87.73metre and 83.98 metre each.
With this, Chopra became the second Indian after India’s legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra to grab the top spot in both the Olympics as well as the World Championship. Importantly, Bindra won the World Championship when he was 23-year-old and Olympic gold in Beijing two years later. Last year, he won a silver medal at the World Championship. Before him, it was India’s legendary long jumper, Anju Bobby George, who won silver at the mega event.
Unique achievement
With his latest achievement, Chopra also became the third javelin thrower in the game’s history to become a World Champion at the same time, after Czech Republic’s Jan Zelezny and Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen.
Previously, Zelezny had clinched gold in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won World Championships in 1993, 1995 and 2001. Similarly, Thorkildse won gold during the 2008 Olympics and also in 2009 World Championships.