Neeraj Chopra’s Historic Gold Wraps Up India’s Impressive Campaign At World Athletics Championships 2023
The Indian athletes achieved quite a few remarkable milestones at the World Athletics Championships 2023 held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19 to 27, 2023.
The 19th edition of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest saw India win their first-ever gold medal, break an Asian record, a national record and also a couple of athletes breach entry standards for Paris 2024 Olympics.
Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra ended India’s long wait for gold at the World Athletics Championships with an impressive 88.17m throw. He had settled for silver last year. Anju Bobby George’s long jump bronze at Paris 2003 remains India’s only other medal at the world championships.
Neeraj Chopra had earlier topped the qualifying round at Budapest 23 and breached the entry standard for Paris 2024 Olympics with a distance of 88.77m.
Javelin throwers Kishore Kumar Jena, who is a Reliance Foundation HPC athlete, and DP Manu also logged impressive performances at the world championships. While Kishore Kumar Jena came fifth after launching the spear to a distance of 84.77m, DP Manu hurled 84.14m to seal the sixth spot. It was the first time that three Indian athletes finished in the top-six of a World Athletics Championships final.
The performances of the javelin throwers wasn’t the only bright spot for India at Budapest 23.
Elsewhere, the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh rewrote the Asian record with a timing of 2.59.05 to finish second in the heats. The Indian quartet clocked 2:59.92 in the final to come fifth.
Meanwhile, Parul Chaudhary set a new national record in the women’s 3000m steeplechase on Sunday. Though Parul finished 11th after qualifying for the final, her timing of 9:15.31 was enough to breach the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifying standards for the event. Parul Chaudhary had clocked 9:24.29 in her heat to finish fifth and qualify for the final. Her timing in the heats was a personal best.
Earlier, Jeswin Aldrin, who holds India’s long jump national record of 8.42m, also qualified for the final but ended up finishing 11th in the 12-man final with a leap of 7.77m.
Reliance Foundation athlete Jyothi Yarraji, a national record holder in women’s 100m hurdles, could not build on her impressive season and missed out on a place in the final. Jyothi gave it all at World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, but finished seventh in her heat with a timing of 13.05 seconds. Earlier, Jyothi was crowned the Asian champion in July and had clinched a bronze medal at the World University Games with a national record timing of 12.78s.
India’s other top stars, including javelin thrower Annu Rani and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar missed out on qualifying to the finals of their respective events.
Men's triple jump national record holder Praveen Chithravel, Commonwealth Games gold medallist triple jumper Eldhose Paul, Asian champion in men’s triple jump Abdulla Aboobacker, and steeplechaser Avinash Sable were some of the other high profile Indian athletes who could not progress past their qualifying rounds.
The trio of Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht & Akashdeep Singh finished 27th, 35th & 47th respectively in the Men’s 20km race walk final. On the other hand, National record-holder Ram Baboo finished 27th in the Men’s 35km race walk final.
Shaili Singh managed distances of 6.26m, 6.30m and 6.40m in her three attempts at the women’s long jump event. She finished 14th in Group B qualifying. The automatic qualifying mark in the event was 6.80m.
Ajay Kumar Saroj, who won gold in the Asian Athletics Championships last month, finished 13th in his heat in the men’s 1500m event. He clocked a personal best 3:38.24s.
Elsewhere, T Santhosh Kumar, competing in the men’s 400m hurdles, clocked 50.46s to finish seventh in his heat. However, he did not make the cut for the semi-finals. Kumar won a bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok last month, clocking a personal best time of 49.09s.
Meanwhile, Sarvesh Anil Kushare finished 20th overall out of 32 athletes in the men’s high jump qualifier. Athletes who breached the automatic qualification mark of 2.30m or the 12 best performers across Group A and Group B qualified for the final. Kushare finished 11th in Group B.
Asian Games silver medalist Krishan Kumar, competing in the men’s 800m event, clocked 1:50.36 to finish seventh in his heat and 53rd overall among 60 finishers.
The World Athletics Championships 2023 saw India send their largest-ever contingent for the marquee event. As many as 27 athletes, hailing from various corners of the country, represented India at the world championships.
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