Kuortane (Finland), June 19: Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra on Saturday (June 18) night clinched his first gold of the season and avoided injury following a nasty slip at the 2022 Kuortane Games in Finland.
Fresh from breaking his own national record, Neeraj's 86.69 m throw in his very first attempt in tricky and wet conditions helped him win the yellow metal.
Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad settled for silver with a throw of 86.64m and Grenada's Anderson Peters claimed bronze with a throw of 84.75m.
The Indian javelin thrower, who hit the spot on his very first try at the tournament, made a foul on his second attempt, and avoided an injury despite a nasty slip in his third attempt.
After the slip, Neeraj chose to skip the remaining two attempts. Meanwhile, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had some good news as they revealed in a tweet that Chopra was doing fine.
"News from Kuortane: All well with @Neeraj_chopra1 after that bad slip on his third attempt. Nothing to worry. Well done #NeerajChopra, congrats for one more top class performance," AFI said in a tweet.
News from Kuortane: All well with @Neeraj_chopra1 after that bad slip on his third attempt. Nothing to worry 👍
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) June 18, 2022
Well done #NeerajChopra, congrats for one more top class performance 👏 #Indianathletics pic.twitter.com/EaMHJAGi6v
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also tweeted a post with video congratulating the "incredible champion". He said: "Gold for Neeraj! He's done it again, what an incredible champion!
"Best throw of 86.69m in his 1st attempt at the #KuortaneGames2022 @Neeraj_chopra1 clinches the top spot and goes on to win his 1st 🥇of the season. BRILLIANT"
Gold for Neeraj !
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) June 18, 2022
He’s done it again, what an incredible champion !
• Best throw of 86.69m in his 1st attempt at the #KuortaneGames2022 @Neeraj_chopra1 clinches the top spot and goes on to win his 1st 🥇of the season
BRILLIANT 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/cxyrAsW7x7
Earlier this month, Neeraj took part at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland and won a silver while setting a new national record with a throw of 89.30m. And following that throw, Neeraj was elated.
"This was my first competition since the Tokyo Olympics and it went really well, as in the first competition itself, I hit my personal best throw and also won the Silver Medal," Neeraj had told SAI.
"Now I am aiming for the next few events which will be bigger than this and of course, the Commonwealth Games, where I will face a lot of competition."
No better feeling than being back on the track! Very happy to start my 2022 season with a Personal Best throw 89.30m. Thank you @paavonurmigames for a great experience and congrats to Oliver Helander for the win. Next stop @KuortaneGames.
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) June 15, 2022
आप सभी के support के लिए धन्यवाद | 🇮🇳🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/FO7INKMagq
Neeraj also added that the throw at the Paavo Nurmi Games boosted his confidence as he now aims to get better and improvise going into bigger events.
"I got a good start here, so it has definitely boosted my confidence that I can perform better and I will take the shortcomings from here and improve upon them as we head for a bigger event," he added.
The Golden Boy of India will next take part in the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League on June 30 as he prepares to lead India at the CWG 2022.