Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, June 19: Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo Olympics winner, won the men’s javelin throw gold at the 2022 Kuortane Games in Finland on Saturday with an outstanding throw of 86.69 metres, just days after winning a silver medal and setting a new national record at the Paavo Nurmi athletics event.
Chopra’s first throw of 86.69m was enough to put him in first place on the podium. His winning throw, however, fell short of his personal best of 89.30m, which he had set earlier in the week at the Paavo Nurmi Games.
Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, who won gold in London 2012, took silver with an 86.64m try, while world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada took bronze with an 84.75m attempt.
Chopra, 24, set the tone for the battle right away, winning the first round of throws with an 86.69m attempt, 0.05m ahead of Walcott. With his next two throws, he failed to log legitimate efforts and took a severe fall during his third attempt. Following the fall, the Indian was seen wincing in pain and making no further attempts.