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Neeraj Chopra: India's Prometheus in Javelin Throw
Neeraj Chopra has been writing the chapters of India's rise in Athletics and has fired up interest in Javelin Throw like never before.
Neeraj Chopra has conquered the world stage again. The poster boy of Indian athletics sent the javelin flying into the sky at the 2023 World Athletics Championships on Sunday night in Budapest and it landed at a whopping distance of 88.17m, well enough for him to clinch the gold medal. The first Indian to win an Olympic gold in athletics thus also became the first Indian to win gold at the World Athletics Championships.
Neeraj's performances at the world level have been so incredible and come so consistently in last three years that his gold medal finish on Sunday night, wasn't a big head turner. Of course, it was highly celebrated and Neeraj stole the limelight, but deep down millions of fans knew that Neeraj would achieve such a feat.
Little did the world know that the then 18-year old boy named Neeraj Chopra, who first rose to fame by achieving a junior world record distance of 86.48m in Javelin Throw at the 2016 World U20 Championships, would go on to become the most popular and renowned face in India's history of athletics.
The following surreal list of major achievements in Javelin Throw by Neeraj, is a telling reflection of his brand image today.
- World Athletics Championships 2023(Gold) with a throw of 88.17m
- Lausanne Diamond League 2023(Gold) with a throw of 87.66m
- World Championships 2022(Silver) with a throw of 88.13m
- Stockholm Diamond League 2022(Silver) with a throw of 89.94m
- Olympic Games 2020(Gold) with a throw of 87.58m
- Asian Games 2018(Gold) with a throw of 88.06m
- Commonwealth Games 2018(Gold) with a throw of 86.47
- Asian Athletics Championships 2017(Gold) with a throw of 85.23m
Undoubtedly, Neeraj has been writing the chapters of India's rise in Athletics and has fired up interest in Javelin Throw like never before. In Javelin throw event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, two more Indians figured among the top 10 athletes in the final. Kishore Jena(84.77m throw) and Manu DP(84.14m) got the fifth and sixth positions respectively.
Currently, besides Neeraj, India has promising guys like Rohit Yadav, Kishore and Manu. It's a testimony to how Neeraj has fired the spirit of fellow Indians to take up the sports and dream for the gold.
The Greek God "Prometheus" is believed to have brought fire to mankind. Similarly, in Athletics and especially Javelin Throw, Neeraj has invigorated and fuelled the belief of Indians. Therefore, Neeraj can truly be called "India's Prometheus in Javelin Throw".
The 90m mark has thus far eluded Neeraj but hopefully it's only a matter of time when he will breach it as well. With just 11 months to go for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Neeraj will take the stage as the defending champion. And as fans we can hope that he retains the crown in style by blasting the Javelin beyond 90 metres at the grandest extravaganza in sports.
It's indeed fantastical and a bit wild to expect that Neeraj becomes a double Olympic Champion and the first Indian ever to win two individual Olympic gold medals. But seeing Neeraj's incredible form, superb skills and hunger for bringing laurels for India, it's quite possible.
