Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra marked his return to competitive action in his first tournament in 10 months with a second-place finish at the Paavo Nurmi Games 2022 in Finland on Tuesday. Neeraj threw the javelin at a distance of 89.30m shattering his National Record and also personal best. (More Sports News)
Neeraj Chopra, who bagged India’s first-ever track and field Olympic gold in Tokyo last August, started off with an 86.92m throw in Turku. The best of Neeraj came in his second attempt when he threw at a distance of 89.30m and roared out loud with his trademark celebration.
Neeraj’s previous best and national record was 88.07m which he achieved at the Indian Grand Prix in March 2021. Neeraj Chopra’s numbers on Tuesday also bettered his Tokyo Olympics gold medal-winning throw of 87.58m.
He fouled on his third, fourth and fifth attempts before eventually ending with a throw of 85.85m. Local Oliver Helander bagged the top spot with a throw of 89.93m while Anderson Peters of Granada came third with a throw of 86.60m.
2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago was fourth with a best throw of 84.02m, followed by Germany's Julian Weber (84.02m) and Czech Republic's Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch (83.91m), who had won silver in Doha with a throw of 90.88m.
Neeraj was also the only Indian athlete competing at the Paavo Nurmi Games 2022. He will next head to Kuortane Games in Finland before flying to Sweden for the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League.
