[In pictures] Neeraj Chopra breaks season record to defend Gold at Asian Games 2023
Neeraj Chopra added yet another gold medal to his already illustrious collection of gold medals, which includes medals from the Olympics, the Diamond League, the Commonwealth, and the previous Asian games.
Neeraj won the gold in a closely contested battle against fellow Indian Kishore Jena, who stunned fans and competitors alike with his massive throw of 86.77m. Kishore’s throw saw him take first place before Neeraj fought back and took first place with a very impressive 88.88-meter throw.
Neither athlete could better their previous attempts, and the competition ended with Neeraj clinching gold and Jena taking the silver medal.
After a very controversial start to the event, where Neeraj had to retake his first attempt due to a ‘technical glitch', the Indian javelin thrower’s attempts looked like this: He managed only 82.38m in his retake but went on to better it in the next throw with a distance of 84.49m. In his third attempt, Neeraj threw the javelin, but it was counted as a foul throw.
Kishore Jena then added pressure on the Indian star, and delivered a brilliant throw of 88.88m in his fourth attempt, the one that won him the gold. He could not better his record in the fifth throw, where he managed only 80.80m and went on to commit yet another foul in his final attempt.
Before the event, Neeraj was seen warming up. He took a few practice throws and stretched before taking the stage at the 19th edition of the Asian Games. The official account of Team India took to Instagram to share a few snaps from the Olympic champion’s warmup routine.
Neeraj Chopra was the favorite to win the men’s javelin throw, and he lived up to the expectations. With the constant rise in the level of track and field events in India and Neeraj’s Olympic gold being one of the reasons for it, India looks forward to a lot more medals, not only by India’s golden boy, Neeraj Chopra, but also by Kishore Jena and all the other track and field athletes in India.