Neeraj Chopra just keeps raising the bar every year, with his stupendous performances. This year too, he did, what he had to, and brought medals galore for the country. Apart from finishing second in the Diamond League Finals, a tournament he had won in 2022, Neeraj brought home India’s first gold at the World Athletics Championships and followed that up with a top finish at the Asian Games too.
But that wasn’t even the highlight of Neeraj’s 2023 or India’s performance in 2023. The moment involving Neeraj came at the Asian Games when he not only won the gold but propelled a silver from countryman Kishore Jena at the Asiad. With a throw surpassing 85.5m, Jena sealed his second prize, and also booked the Paris 2024 berth, and no one apart from Neeraj was the happiest with the achievement. Jena got to a personal best of 87.54m, which is in close proximity to Neeraj’s best at 89.94m.
On the other hand, Neeraj snatched his gold with a best throw of 88.88m.
Positive Sign of Things to Come
Jena, Neeraj and other throwers like DP Manu, Shivpal Singh, & others, have raised the hopes for the future, that India can not only bag a medal at the Olympics in javelin, but it could very well be two, with such a strong bench.
Editors pick
