Neeraj Chopra: This medal is for the whole country

This was about annexing new territory laying claim to that missing piece of gold in his growing repertoire of medallions and believe Neeraj Chopra when he says it didnrsquot come easy It all started with a foul the rest of the 11 finalists had successful first throwsThat itself creates doubt so what if the man is the reigning Olympic and Diamond League championBudapestrsquos National Athletic Centre was packed with fans At the other end the womenrsquos high jump was in progress Ten minutes later the menrsquos 5000m final began And in all this noise announcements cheers the roar of the fans Chopra was coming to terms with a foul in his first throw The longest throw in Round One went to Finlandrsquos Oliver Helander 8338m Choprarsquos second was big 8817m Now the pressure shifted from Chopra to the others who had to chaseWeberrsquos early responseGermanyrsquos Julian Weber was the first to respond with 8579m Six throwers went 80plus rhythm was being established In the third round Pakistanrsquos Arshad Nadeem made his intent clear with a massive 8782m short off Chopra but enough to cause anxiety in the Indian camp Nadeem tends to fly below the radar He is six feetplus but looks larger in real life with shoulders and chest that could stop a tank Unlike a Chopra or a Weber who sprint in Nadeem ambles in and throws powerfully Momentum is key to someone like Nadeem His hands are huge like the Barbari the Persian flat bread A javelin in his hand would almost be like a pencil in a normal personrsquos fist Choprarsquos third throw was 8632mIndiarsquos Neeraj Chopra during the javelin final in Budapest on Sunday PicsAFPAfter the first three throws Chopra led while DP Manu and Kishore Jena were in the top eight The bottom four went out of the competition Now eight would battle it out in the last three throws Chopra threw 8464 in his fourth Nadeem threw 8715m It was getting close With two throws remaining Jakub Vadlejch jumped into the third spot with 8667m Nadeem fouled his fifth that would bring it down to one big throw for the Pakistani to overtake Chopra Nadeemrsquos sixth was 8186m after Vadlejch had fouled his sixth With a throw remaining Chopra was already world champion his second throw of 8817m giving him the gold his set of Olympic World and Diamond League now complete From Indiarsquos standpoint this was its first track and field World Championship gold a nationrsquos thirst finally quenched Pakistan also created a record clinching its first track and field silver medalWith Kishore Jena and DP Manu finishing fifth sixth India had three javelin throwers in the worldrsquos top six an amazing achievement ldquoEveryone used to say that this was the only medal left but Irsquove won that too now only 90m is left I was thinking the 90m mark will happen but the gold medal was more important And now I will put more effort in the upcoming competitionsrdquo said ChopralsquoGrateful to fansrsquoThe world champion did not forget to thank his fans ldquoI will say thank you to my countrymen for being awake at night to support us A big thank you and this medal is for the whole country We became Olympic champions and we are now World Champions We Indians can do anythingrdquoChopra may garner a huge amount of attention now because he is a world champion too but in his wake a whole new generation of selfassured athletes are not only gaining confidence but also growing in stature