New Delhi : Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday night. He thus ended India’s gold medal drought at the World Championships, which had been going on since the inception of the competition in 1983.

The 25-year-old Neeraj is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. Kishore Jena of India finished fifth and DP Manu sixth. The year before, Neeraj had won silver at the World Championships in Eugene, which he converted into gold this time. Neeraj’s first attempt in the final was a foul. However, he bounced back tremendously in the second attempt and achieved a distance of 88.17 metres, which was not matched by any player till the end.

Neeraj scored 86.32 metres in his third attempt, 84.64 metres in his fourth attempt, 87.73 metres in his fifth attempt and 83.98 metres in his sixth attempt. Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, a gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, competed against Neeraj. Nadeem, a 90-metre thrower who has just undergone elbow surgery, made his comeback with a throw of 70.63 metres in the first round. He qualified for the final in second place behind Neeraj Chopra with a personal best of 86.79m. Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan took silver. He set a personal best of 87.82 metres.  Jakub Wadlech from the Czech Republic won the bronze medal after his third place. Julian Weber of Germany finished fourth, missing out on a medal.

Neeraj won the historic silver medal in the last season of the championships. In the competition held in Oregon, Neeraj threw the javelin 88.39 metres. He ended India’s 19-year drought for a medal. This championship has been held since 1983. This is the third medal for India in the World Athletics Championships overall.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Neeraj Chopra on his gold medal in the men’s javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships. In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi said, “The talented @Neeraj_chopra1 exemplifies excellence. His dedication, precision and passion make him not just a champion in athletics but a symbol of unparalleled excellence in the entire sports world.”  “Congrats to him for winning the Gold at the World Athletics Championships,” Mr. Modi said.

On the other hand the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team finished fifth at the championships. It was for the first time that the Indian team qualified for the finals. Mohammad Anas, Amoj, Mohammad Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh completed the 1600-metre course in 2 minutes and 59.92 seconds. The team broke the Asian record with a time of 2minutes 59.05 seconds on Saturday. In this event, the United States won gold (2:57.31 seconds), France silver (2:58.45 seconds) and Great Britain bronze (2:58.71 seconds).