Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 22: At the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, Rohit Yadav joined reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra as the second Indian to qualify for the men’s javelin final on Friday.
Meanwhile, Eldhose Paul was the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final.
It's massive, it's historical🇮🇳
One of the greatest mornings of #indianathletics all unfolding at #Oregon2022
First time ever two Javelin Throwers makes it to the final of #WorldAthleticsChamps Neeraj & Rohit Yadav
Eldhose Paul is first Indian to reach men's Triple Jump final pic.twitter.com/KZXz1aKOKB
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 22, 2022
Yadav placed 11th with his best throw of 80.42 metres, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters, the reigning champion, won the qualification round with 89.91 metres. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra earlier that day advanced to his first World Championships final with a remarkable first-attempt throw of 88.39 metres.
The 24-year-old Indian, who is the overwhelming favourite to win a medal, started the men’s javelin throw Group A qualification round on Thursday by throwing his spear 88.39 metres, which was his third-best throw of his career.
Straight onto the final 💪
Olympic javelin champion @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳 throws an automatic qualifier of 88.39m on his first attempt!#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/tOzsEwkxLS
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 22, 2022
It is important to note that Chopra did not make it to the World Championships final in the 2017 edition of the competition, therefore this was his first opportunity to do so. Chopra had thrown 82.26 metres at the time and missed the 2019 competition due to injury. Now that the finals are underway, Rohit and Neeraj are both aiming for the top spot and the gold medal.