Neeraj Chopra

The Indian javelin ace fell just six centimetres short of the elusive 90m mark but he bettered his personal best of 89.30m, set earlier this month at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland. World champion Anderson Peters of Grenada broke the 16-year-old meet record with a huge 90.31m throw in his third attempt, which was enough to get him the top spot. World No 4 Julian Weber of Germany finished third with an effort of 89.08m.

Neeraj, who recently finished second in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, setting the national record of 89.30 metres in the process and then won a gold medal at the Kuortane Games with a creditable effort of 86.60m in horrible conditions, will be India's main hope for a gold medal in Oregon, continuing his surge from Tokyo.

Neeraj Chopra's first throw, measuring 86.69m, was enough for him to clinch the top spot on the podium. However, his winning throw was well short of the 89.30m -- the personal best he had logged during the Paavo Nurmi Games earlier in the week. London 2012 gold medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago won the silver with 86.64m while world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada settled for bronze with an 84.75 attempt.

AFI president Adille Sumariwalla expressed confidence that the squad would deliver quality performances. The squad includes three men Javelin Throwers in Neeraj Chopra, DP Manu and Rohit Yadav and three Triple Jumpers in Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveen Chithravel and Eldhose Paul. "We are requesting the Indian Olympic Association to increase our quota by one and to assist in securing accreditation for a couple of athletes.

The 24-year old Chopra on Tuesday registered a best throw of 89.30m, a new personal best and national record, to finish behind Finland's Oliver Helander, who won gold with a personal best throw of 89.83m. Reigning world champion and 2022 season's world leader Anderson Peters of Grenada claimed the bronze with 86.60m. The meet in Finland was Neeraj's first competition since winning the historic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 in August last year.

Neeraj is currently working hard on his body, strength as well honing his skills with his coach Klaus Bartonietz at the training base in Turkey. On the other hand, his rivals -- world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Tokyo Olympics silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic -- had come up with 93.07m and 90.88m throws respectively in the Doha Diamond League on May 13.

Chopra and his coach, Dr. Klaus Bartonietz have been in Turkey since the end of March 2022 and will now continue their training at the Antalya camp for another 14 days as Chopra prepares for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and Athletics World Championships.

The Javelin thrower will share glimpses from his life in the form of short and long-format videos on his sport and fitness. "I am now excited to start my own channel with the hope of helping the next generation of Indian athletes. Through my channel, I will aim to give a glimpse of my fitness and training regimen to followers, while also putting out interesting content from my life and travels as an athlete," said Chopra.

The javelin gold medal winner from Tokyo Games, Chopra earned a nomination for the prestigious 2022 Laureus World Sports Awards in the World Breakthrough of the Year category. "The gold medal has motivated me in life to do even better. Performing well and ending up on the podium will be my target in the World Championship which is going to take place in July," Chopra told Laureus official website.

Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and Paralympic gold medalist Sumit Antil, both belonging to Haryana, were on Tuesday awarded the Padma Shri. Also, the state's Om Prakash Gandhi will be awarded the Padma Shri for social work, Moti Lal Madan for science and engineering, and Raghuvendra Tanwar for literature and education.