Neeraj Chopra, the man who made India proud with that unforgettable Olympic gold in Tokyo, is back doing what he does best--winning. After a couple of silvers in Paris 2024 and Doha Diamond League, he struck gold once again, this time at a home event named after him, in Bengaluru at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic on July 5, Saturday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
It was India’s first-ever World Athletics-sanctioned Gold-level meet. Battling strong winds and tricky conditions under a cloudy Bengaluru sky that had seen rain earlier in the day, Neeraj struck gold with a best throw of 86.18m in the third round. But in the tough weather conditions, the effort was as good as a 90m throw in calmer conditions.
The 27-year-old cleared the distance of 86.18m in his third attempt, responding to the pressure built on him by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, who had recorded a distance of 84.34m to take the lead.
The 2015 World Champion Julius Yego of Kenya bagged the silver medal with a best throw of 84.51m while Pathirage took home the bronze medal.
Chopra, who had cleared the 90m mark at the Doha Diamond League earlier this year, was an undisputed favourite on the home turf. But the 27-year-old fouled on his first attempt while Yego took the lead with a throw of 79.97m.
But the home favourite responded with a throw of 82.99m in the second attempt to take the lead and the jam-packed Kanteerava stadium was already in celebration mode. However, Pathirage seemed determined to crash the party with a throw of 84.34m in his third attempt.
However, Chopra responded in style as he began celebrating even before the javelin hit the ground and the scoreboard flashed a distance of 86.18m.
Apart from Chopra, India’s Sachin Yadav (82.33m) and Yashvir Singh (79.65m) also made it to the last eight stage. Yadav was even in medal contention till Yego came up with his season-best throw in the fourth attempt to leapfrog to second spot.
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Speaking after winning the title, Chopra insisted that he wasn’t happy with the distance but said he was satisfied considering the windy conditions. “I was expecting a good result but the wind of quite heavy and I am happy to win. It was mentally quite tough for me as I knew people expected me to win. I had come here after participating in two events and hence I was under pressure to perform in front of the home crowd,” he added .
2016 Olympic Champion Thomas Rohler of Germany could not make it beyond the first three throws as he fouled the second and third attempt after being able to clear a distance of only 75.85m in the first attempt.
Chopra thanked everyone involved in making the event a grand success and said that considering the response, he would strive to host many more world class athletics events in the country.
