The 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has won the gold medal in the men’s javelin with an 88.17 meter (m) throw in the World Athletics Championships 2023.
- The 19th edition of the World Athletics Championships (2023) was held in (Venue – The National Athletics Centre) Budapest, Hungary from 19th to 27th August 2023.
Neeraj Chopra – Gold Medal:
i.Neeraj Chopra finished first followed by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (87.82m) in the second and Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) of the Czech Republic in the third.
- Other Indian athletes Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) finished fifth and sixth respectively in the finals.
- This marks India’s third medal at the World Athletics Championships after Anju Bobby George’s long jump bronze at Paris 2003 and Neeraj’s silver at Oregon 2022.
ii.He became the first Indian to win gold at the World Athletics Championships.
Note:
National Javelin Day is annually celebrated across India on 7th August to commemorate the day on which Neeraj Chopra won the men’s javelin throw gold at Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Indian men’s 4x400m relay team finishes fifth in the finals:
i.Indian men’s 4x400m relay team comprising Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amob Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh finished fifth in the finals.
- The United States of America(USA) finished first followed by France and the United Kingdom in second and third place respectively in the finals of men’s 4x400m.
- They also became the first Indian men’s 4x400m relay team to reach a World Championship finals.
- They set an Asian record in the men’s 4x400m relay event in the qualifying round by taking 2:59.05 seconds and surpassed Japan(2:59.51 seconds).
Overall Medal Tally:
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America(USA) | 12 | 8 | 9 | 29 |
| 2 | Canada | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Spain | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 18 | India | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Note:
India shared the 18th position with five other countries including Bahrain, Dominican republic,Serbia,venezuela and Burkino Faso.
Highlights:
i.The biennial multi-nation competition witnessed the participation of 2100 athletes from 195 countries for the 49 medal events across track and field and road races.
- Around 27 Indian athletes participated in 15 medal events including 11 for men and four for women.
ii.India’s Parul Chaudhary finished 11th in the finals of the Women’s 3000m steeplechase.
- She has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after setting a national record-breaking run of 9:15:31 in the finals.
iii.India’s Jeswin Aldrin finished 11th in the Men’s long jump finals with a 7.77 m Jump.
- He became the second Indian male long jumper to qualify for the finals after M Sreeshankar in 2022.
- He set the national record with an 8.42m jump in March 2023.
Note:
The 20th edition World Athletics Championships is set to held in Tokyo, Japan in 2025.
About World Athletics(Formerly The International Amateur Athletic Federation):
President– Sebastian Coe
Headquarters– Monaco, Europe
