Picture Credit: Twitter
India's Tokyo 2020 Gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra continued his fine form in the brand new season with a gold medal at the Kuortane Games 2022. On an extremely slippery runway in a rain-washed event, Chopra's first throw of 86.69 metres was enough to help him bag gold. However, Chopra suffered a nasty slip in one of his later attempts which was deemed as a foul.
The star javelin thrower appeared to smile after the incident and seems to have escaped a serious injury. However, there is no official word from him or his team yet. Earlier Chopra had broken the national record in another event in Finland when he threw 89.30 metres at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku. However, on that occasion, he had won the silver medal.
Have a look at how Chopra slipped:
As far as the Kuortane Games are concerned, Neeraj did not take any more attempts after the third one on which he slipped. This could be because of a precautionary measure to avoid injury before important events like the World Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.
Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago came close but had to settle for a silver with a throw of 86.64m. World Champion Anderson Peters who has breached 90 metres this season bagged the Bronze with a throw of 84.75m. India had another representation in the event in Sandeep Chaudhury who finished 8th with his best throw of 60.35m.
Relive Chopra's gold-medal winning throw here: