Asian Games | Neeraj Chopra bags gold and breaks national record in javelin throw finals

20-year-old Neeraj Chopra has arguably had the best season of his career so far, which has seen him break his own national record earlier this year at the Diamond League meet in Doha, Qatar. But the lad from Panipat has managed to break his record once more as he threw a massive 88.06m in the final of the men’s javelin throw event at the ongoing Asian Games in Jakarta.

The youngster was the favorite to lift gold at the Asian showpiece and lived up to those expectations as he managed to secure gold ahead of China’s Liu Qizhen who had a personal best of 82.22m in the final. Neeraj managed to break his own national record that he had set earlier in Qatar as he threw a massive 88.06m throw on his third attempt that almost assured him gold.

In his maiden season of competing at the Diamond League, Chopra also qualified for the finals of the Diamond League in Zurich, Switzerland. That tournament will see Neeraj go toe-to-toe with Johannes Vetter, Thomas Rohler, and other elite throwers in the world. Neeraj still held the five longest throws in Asia in 2018 and eight of the top 15 throws overall.

The last time India won a men’s javelin was in 1982 courtesy of Gurtej Singh. This meant that the youngster set another milestone by becoming the first gold medallist in the javelin in at the Asian Games.