Neeraj Chopra, an anomaly in Indian athletics

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'Neeraj Chopra becomes the first World Champion in athletics for India' is a headline that must have flashed on the phone a number of times for every social media user in the country. In case, you are wondering what's the fuss about the occasion then let's break it down further to understand the magnitude of the achievement.

It took India 30 years since the advent of the World Athletics Championships — seeing a generation of legendary athletes from PT Usha to Anju Bobby George to Hima Das, who etched their names in the history of Indian athletics' many firsts in that time period — to find its maiden World Champion.

And with the dominance, tenacity and consistency it was achieved, made Neeraj Chopra one of those rare athletes, who has won every coveted prize that track and field has to offer in javelin. Since winning the World U-20 Championships in 2016, which was also an announcement of his arrival on the world stage, the javelin thrower won gold medals at the Asian Games (2018), Commonwealth Games (2018), Tokyo Olympics (2021) and the Diamond League Final Trophy (2022).

While his world U-20 record throw of 86.48 metres stands to this day, Neeraj Chopra's stronghold at the biggest stage of athletics was on display last Sunday, when he threw 88.17 metres on the night from his second throw to take the lead for the rest of the night.

Two years after becoming the Olympic Champion, many predicted that the bar would be set higher in the coming years for Neeraj Chopra to replicate the success of Tokyo. And correctly so as the likes of Anderson Peters, Arshad Nadeem went past the 90m mark to steal the limelight from the Indian. However, it's his consistency that helped Neeraj prevail over his rivals, who just couldn't keep up with the Indian's ability to deliver on the big stage.

Arshad Nadeem, whose record 90.18m throw at the Commonwealth Games last year made the Panipat-born athlete's absence insignificant, could only muster the strength for an 87.82m to finish second. Two-time World Champion Anderson Peters couldn't even make it past the qualification round in Budapest while the return of a certain Johannes Vetter is much awaited on the grid since his Tokyo Olympics debacle.

The presence of Kishore Jena and DP Manu in the top six of the final on Sunday further glorified Neeraj Chopra's persona as a super athlete who has inspired upcoming javelin throwers in the country. However, there is trouble in paradise as barring the javelin final, there were few positives to take from the rest of the pack.

Lateral jumpers couldn't keep up with the hype

Long jumpers disappointed the most as groundbreaking results were expected from the likes of Murali Sreeshankar, Jeswin Aldrin and Shaili Singh, who built up well for the World Athletics Championships 2023. It included the top two world-leading jumps by Aldrin (7.42m) and Sreeshankar (7.41m) for the first time in track and field history.

Replicating the same would have resulted in a bronze medal, which Jamaica's Tajay Gayle took at 8.27m. However, not managing a jump of more than 8m baffled many of the fans as the duo ignited medal hopes since Neeraj Chopra ended the 19-year-old dry spell of medals at the World Championships last year in Oregon.

The same criticism wasn't meted out to Teenager Shaili Singh, who made her debut with a leap of 6.40m out of her three jumps to finish 14th. The expectations were toned down for the rest of the Indian athletes as well, who were having their own races among the top names in the world. However, failure to be near their personal best meant that there was less to celebrate and more to work on.

Triple jumpers Abdullah Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel were several notches below the expected 17m mark while India's undisputed javelin queen Annu Rani's poor show in the 2023 season continued as she couldn't go past the 60m again this season. She managed an unsatisfactory 57.05 metre to end the national record holder's Worlds campaign after just three throws.

Avinash Sable gets his strategy wrong

In track events, Avinash Sable was one of the curious cases from Budapest as the 3000m steeplechase national record holder got his strategy wrong in a slow heat race and was overwhelmed by his rivals at the final stretch of the race. The result gave further clarity that Avinash is far from dictating terms in a discipline historically dominated by African long-distance runners.

His training partner Parul Chaudhary, however, emerged in the women's steeplechase by breaking the national record in the final to finish a credible 11th after clocking her personal best in the heats. There was further good news from team events too as men's 400m relay runners broke the Asian record to qualify for the finals, where they finished creditable 5th.

The results also saw the Worlds debut of youngsters Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammad Ajmal, who phased out the likes of Rajiv Arokia and Dharun Ayyasamy in the 400m relay setup.

The overall result was in stark contrast to last year's World Championships in Oregon, where at least eight Indians made the final. However, the athletes have no time to sulk as the Asian Games 2023 is upon us, leaving athletes with a month's time to get their act together and redeem themselves in Hangzhou.

To their advantage, the bar is set lower at the continental level as the Asian Games is the happy hunting ground for Indian track and field stars. And as far as Neeraj Chopra is concerned, he could be just beginning at 25!