Neeraj Chopra achieves big feat; climbs to world No 2 in javelin throw ranking

Add as a preferred source on Google

New Delhi, August 12: Neeraj Chopra is on the clouds these days. And why not? The javelin thrower had fetched India's first Olympics athletics gold in Tokyo, finding a distance of 87.58M.

Accolades and prizes in abundance followed the gold medal as the nation honoured the hero. Now, Neeraj has another heady achievement under his belt as he has risen to world No 2 in javelin rankings. Neeraj now has 1315 ranking points, a mere 81 points behind Germany's Johannes Vetter (1396).

Poland's Marcin Krukowski, Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and Germany's Julian Weber constitute the top five javelin throwers in the rankings.

Meanwhile, India javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's historic golden throw in the Olympics has been listed as one of the 10 magical moments of athletics (track and field) in the Tokyo Olympics by the World Athletics.

The 23-year-old Chopra created history on Saturday as he became the first from the country to win a gold in track and field in the Olympics. He threw the javelin to a distance of 87.58m to pick the yellow metal at the Tokyo Games.

"Most keen followers of the sport had heard of Neeraj Chopra before the Olympic Games. But after winning the javelin in Tokyo, and in the process becoming India's first athletics gold medallist in Olympic history, Chopra's profile sky-rocketed," the World Athletics website read.

Neeraj had 143,000 followers before the Olympics but now has a staggering 3.2million, making him the most followed track and field athlete in the world.

"Still processing this feeling," he recently posted. "To all of India and beyond, thank you so much for your support and blessings that have helped me reach this stage. This moment will live with me forever."

Neeraj's gold was india's first in Olympics athletics after the late Milkha Singh and PT Usha missed a medak narrowly in earlier Games.