By News Desk

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra made history as the first Indian to secure a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

He won a gold medal in javelin after he threw 88.17m to beat Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan, who won silver with a season’s best 87.82m.

25-year-old Chopra managed to win a silver medal at the championships in Eugene, Oregon, last year. After his historic win, he said: “It was my dream to win gold at the world championships.

“This has been a great championships for India and I am proud to bring another title to my country.”

Anju Bobby George is the only other athlete to have secured a medal for India at the World Athletics Championships, achieving a bronze in the women’s long jump event during the 2003 edition held in Paris.

Chopra qualified for the final by achieving a season-best throw of 88.77m. Despite this, he expressed the belief that he could have delivered a stronger performance in the final held on Sunday.

“I don’t think I am the best thrower here. I wanted to throw more,” he said.

“I wanted to throw more than 90m but it needs all parts of the puzzle to be there. I couldn’t put it all together this evening. Maybe next time.”

India and Pakistan added another episode to their history of sporting rivalry in Budapest, where Chopra and Nadeem came face-to-face in battle for the gold medal.

Nadeem, who recently recovered from an elbow and knee surgery, was participating in his first event of the season. While he had clinched the gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, his performance this time final did not earn him the top position.