Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in on Sunday after Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra smashed the junior world record on his way to a historic gold medal at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
The 18-year-old's effort of 86.48m is the first world record ever by an Indian in athletics.
The earlier record was held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais. This is also the first time an Indian has won a gold at any World Athletics Championships.
PM Modi congratulated Chopra, tweeting on his personal twitter handle.
Chopra had earlier made the cut for the finals of the event with a best effort of 78.20 meters in the qualification round.
His throw is the eighth best among all javelin throwers this year. He is also ahead of defending Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, whose best in 2016 is 86.35m.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal also congratulated the youngster, who hails from Panipat, Haryana.
Cricketer VVS Laxman, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won silver in men's Double Trap at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and Rio-bound boxer Manoj Kumar also saluted India's record-breaking teenager.
Neeraj, 18, had also won the South Asian Games gold in Guwahati earlier this year with a personal best of 82.23m.