Federation Cup 2024: Neeraj Chopra, competing for the first time on Indian soil since his historic gold medal at Tokyo 2020, may not have been at his best at the Federation Cup 2024 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday (May 15). However, his best throw of 82.27 metres in the men's javelin throw final was still enough for him to sign off with a gold.
Chopra, who will enter the Paris Olympic 2024 as India's prime contender for gold, did not have a smooth run in his first domestic competition in 3 years. The 26-year-old was trailing behind in the first three rounds and did not seem please with his fourth round throw either but as it turned out, his 82.27m effort was enough to overtake DP Manu's best throw of 82m who settled for silver.
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Neeraj Chopra's Last Domestic Competition Was In March 2021
Notably, Chopra's last domestic competition came back in March 2021. It was at this very event, the Federation Cup. On that occasion too, he had managed to clinch the gold albeit with a much better throw of 87.80m. The two of Chopra's gold in Federation Cup are sandwhiched between some achievements that have made Chopra a global superstar and one of India's most decorated athletes.
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Right on top will be Chopra's historic gold at the Tokyo Olympics in memory of which India celebrates National Javelin Throw Day as a medal-deprived country bagged a gold, thanks to a dominating performance from the Haryana lad. He then became Diamond League champion in 2022, world champion in 2023 and successfully defended his Asian Games gold in China.
Chopra, however, is yet to breach the hallowd 90-metre mark with his best and India's national record being 89.94m.