World Athletics Championships 2023 Was A "Big Challenge": Neeraj Chopra Tells NDTV

India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra added another feather to his cap last week by claiming a World Athletics Championships gold medal at Budapest, Hungary. With it, he also became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the event. Neeraj's best throw in the javelin final was 88.17m. He had a foul throw to start with but then got 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m and 83.98m. In a recent interview to NDTV, Neeraj has revealed that the World Championships was "a big challenge" for him.

"World Championships was tough for me because I was recovering from an injury. While competing in Tokyo (Olympcs) I was fit and I was competing well there, but in Budapest, I was always concerned about my injury. Keeping the injury fear in mind and then winning the gold at World Champions was a big challenge," the star javelin thrower said.

Neeraj finished at the second spot at the Zurich Diamond League men's javelin throw event on Friday.

The reigning world champion started with a 80.79m throw before two false throws in his next two attempts put him in fifth position. However, in his fourth attempt, Neeraj came back strong with a 85.22m throw. Another false throw followed but with a 85.77m throw in his sixth and final attempt, he came agonisingly close to grabbing the top spot but he ended up narrowly missing out.

Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who finished third at the World Athletics Championships. took the top position with 88.86m while Julian Weber finished third with a best throw of 85.04m.

(With PTI Inputs)