Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra breaks his own national record to clinch gold at Indian Grand Prix


Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra breaks his own national record to clinch gold at Indian Grand Prix

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra

India’s javelin throwing ace and national record holder Neeraj Chopra broke his own record by recording a top notch throw of 88.07 meters at the third leg of the Indian Grand Prix held in Patiala. It is noteworthy that the throw is the best recorded one in 2021 and it marks a spectacular return to action for Chopra as he was competing in a competition for the first time in over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Neeraj Chopra’s previous record was 88.06 meters which was recorded at the 2018 Asian Games which helped him clinch the gold medal. The 24-year-old has now broken it and would love to keep improving.

The 24-year-old began the day strongly by throwing 83.03 meter in the first effort. However, he was pegged back by two consecutive foul throws after that. The fourth got to 83.36 meters which was already a winning effort. However, he got better with a stunning fifth throw which turned out to be the one breaking the national record.

‘I would need to perform even better’ – Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra spoke to reporters soon after the event ended and said, “I was prepared and today it was windy. I used my favourite javelin which helped me. Pandemic did affect training and preparation but we managed to hold on. On the world level I would need to perform even better as current standard in the world is quite high.”

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Shivpal Singh who is also Olympic-bound like Chopra came second with a throw of 81.63 meter. Sahil Silwal finished third with 80.65 meter. It is noteworthy that the qualification mark for the Tokyo Olympics in the javelin event for men is 85 meters.

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