Neeraj Chopra wins Gold at Kuortane Games, escapes injury after nasty slip

Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra struck gold at the Kuortane Games on Saturday. Despite some very tough conditions due to incessant rainfall in Finland, Chopra won his first gold medal of the season.

While rain had a big say in the performance of all the javelin throwers, no opponent could breach Chopra’s very first throw of 86.69 metres. There could have been an injury scare for the 24-year-old after he had a nasty fall on the wet track during his third attempt but thankfully, the Athletics Federation of India confirmed in a tweet that the Olympic Champion was doing fine.

Chopra’s rival Anderson Peters, who has breached the 90-metre mark twice in the calendar year, once again finished behind the Indian in third. With the World Championships less than a month away, Neeraj Chopra is looking good for another big performance on the world stage.

Earlier this week, in his very first attempt after the Tokyo Olympics, he missed out on the 90-metre mark by just 70 centimetres but managed to set a new national record with his throw.

The Indian star will be in action next on June 30 at the Stockholm Diamond League.

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