Neeraj Chopra, India’s golden boy made headlines after he registered a brilliant performance by winning a gold medal in the men's javelin final at World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem ended at the second spot, becoming the first medallist for Pakistan in the history of the competition.
Neeraj started the event with a foul attempt but then he sent his spear to the distance of 88.17 m in his second attempt and clinched the gold medal for his country. Pakistan’s Nadeem on the other hand, started slow but then came up with a tough competition with his season-best throw of 87.82 m in his third attempt which immediately took him to the second position. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch sealed the bronze with the best throw of 86.67 m.
Moments after winning the gold, Neeraj and Nadeem hugged each other. Subsequently, when Neeraj and Jakub were posing in front of the cameras, Nadeem was not there in the frame as he was left with the Pakistan flag. But then Neeraj came up with a heartwarming act as he asked Nadeem to come for the photographs as the pair stood together with the Indian flag behind them.
This was the first time that India had three players in the final with with Kishore Jena (best of 84.77 m) having ended fifth while DP Manu (best of 84.14 m) finished sixth. On the back of this win, Neeraj is now an Olympic champion and the current World Championships gold medallist, becoming only the second Indian after the legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra to win the Olympics and Worlds title. Earlier, Bindra won the World Championships title at just 23 and then Olympics gold at when he was just 25.