Young Indian Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra yesterday set a World-Leading Mark for Junior Athletes (Under-20) by throwing the 800 gm spear to a remarkable distance of 81.04m at the 76th All India Inter-University Athletics Championships in Patiala.
The 18-year old bettered his previous best of 77.67m which he had created en-route his Indian Open Nationals victory in Kolkata in September.
Such was Chopra’s throw that it exceeded the Indian Universities Record by more than 6 metres. The previous World Junior Mark of 79.20m, which was set by MatIija Muhar when he won the Slovenian European Junior Championships, was hence replaced.
Ravinder Chaudhury, the head of physical education department in DAV College, Chandigarh, where Chopra trains now, said, “Neeraj told he has plan to go 84m and farther.”
The finals of the tournament would be held on January 1, 2016, and the youngster is well in contention to win the Gold medal. The World Leading Mark would remain the same anyway, as there are no outdoor athletics tournaments at this time of the year anywhere globally.
Earlier, the Junior Record holder had also dazzled during the Panjab University Annual Athletics Meet, held in November in Chandigarh, by creating a new meet record of 76.66m thereby winning the Gold medal there as well.
Currently ranked 77th in the World, the Javelin Thrower has also been a record holder in the Under-16 group, when he threw the spear to a then Indian best distance of 76.50m during the 30th Annual Junior Athletics Championships 2014, held in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh.
The athlete has also represented India in the World Youth Championships at Donetsk, in 2013. Given his feats at such a remarkably young age, this Haryana prodigy is definitely expected to unfurl the Indian flag at the grandest stage of the Olympics in the future.
