Struggled a bit with the conditions, but extremely happy to win a silver medal for India: Neeraj Chopra

Struggled a bit with the conditions, but extremely happy to win a 🥈medal for India at the #WCHOregon22. Congratulations to Anderson Peters and Jakub Vadlejch on an incredible competition.

Thank you to everyone at home and at Hayward Field for your support. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/co2mGrx3Em

— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) July 25, 2022

“Struggled a bit with the conditions, but extremely happy to win a silver medal for India at the #WCHOregon22. Congratulations to Anderson Peters and Jakub Vadlejch on an incredible competition. Thank you to everyone at home and at Hayward Field for your support,” tweeted Chopra, who became the only second Indian athlete to win a medal at the World Championships after long jumper Anju Bobby George, who won a bronze in the 2003 edition in Paris.

The 24-year-old Chopra, during his interactions with media on Sunday, had said: “Conditions were not great, there was a lot of wind. But I felt that I would get a good throw.”

Chopra had won gold in Tokyo Olympics last year with a second-round throw of 87.58m and had just needed a first round effort of 88.39m to qualify for the finals at second place.

THE REPEAT 🥇🥇@peters_oly 🇬🇩 defeats Olympic champion @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳 with 90.54m and successfully defends his world javelin title!#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/7iViXSCDHA

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 24, 2022

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His silver saw India featuring in the medal table of the worlds for the first time in nearly two decades. India were placed at joint 28th in the standings.

Neeraj Chopra, who had come into the event as hot favourite, secured the medal with a throw of 88.13m, finishing second.

Neeraj didn’t had an ideal start as he began with a foul throw and had 82.39m and 86.37m to be at fourth after three rounds. He got his rhythm back with a big fourth round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort, to jump to second place, which he held on to till the end. His fifth and sixth throws were fouls.

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won gold with a best throw of 90.54m, while Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic took the bronze with 88.09m.

The other Indian in the fray, Rohit Yadav finished at 10th with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit had finished 11th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.