Ahead of next month’s Asian Games in Indonesia, India’s ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has clinched gold at the Sotteville Athletics Meet in France.
The 20-year-old grabbed the top spot with a throw of 85.17m on Tuesday. It was an outstanding effort by the youngster as he beat the field of competitors, which also included 2012 London Olympics gold medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago.
Moldova's Andrian Mardare took the silver medal with a throw of 81.48m, while Edis Matusevicius of Lithuania was third with 79.31m. Walcott was fifth with a throw of 78.26m.
Chopra has been on the rise after he shot to fame at the World Junior Championship in 2016. Back then, he had a record throw of 86.48m.
This year, he won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Australia and broke the national record with a throw of 87.43m at Doha Diamond League.
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwala took to Twitter to congratulate Chopra and his coach Uwe Hohn.
“Well done Neeraj...keep going...Congratulations to Neeraj and coach Uwe Hohn (former world record holder in javelin throw). Thank you SAI and Govt of India for agreeing to send Neeraj to Finland along with coach for training on recommendation of Athletics Federation of India (sic)”, Sumariwala wrote.
Expectations will be high on Chopra at the Asian Games, which will be held from 18 August to 2 September in Jakarta and Palembang.