India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra scripted history yet again. The star javelin thrower became the first player from the nation to clinch a gold medal in the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. It was a throw of 88.17m in his second attempt in the final in Budapest, Hungary that helped Neeraj bag the honour. Pakistan's reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem took the silver with his season's best throw of 87.82m, while Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) of Czech Republic bagged the bronze medal.
How Much Prize Money Did Neeraj Chopra Get?
On winning a gold medal at the prestigious event, Neeraj received a cash prize of $70000, which is close to 58 lakh rupees. On the other hand, his Pakistan opponent Arshad got $35,000, around 29 lakh rupees. Meanwhile, Vadlejch, who also finished on the podium received a sum of $22,000, close to 18 lakh.
In another first, three Indians finished in top eight with Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) taking the fifth and sixth spots respectively. Never before did three Indians finish in top eight of an event in the World Championships.
Olympic champion Chopra began with a foul but jumped to top spot with his second throw, and from thereon, he led the field till the end.
Chopra has now become only the second Indian -- after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra -- to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships title. Bindra won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25.
Neeraj, who had become the first Indian Olympic track and field gold medallist in the Tokyo Games in 2021, had won a silver in the 2022 edition of the World Championships.
Before him, legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George had won a bronze in the 2003 World Championships.
(With PTI Inputs)