India's Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has broken the national record. Chopra threw 89.30 metre in the second attempt at the Paavo Nurmi Games 2022 in Turku, Finland on June 14 to break his own record.
Returning to the international arena after 10 months of break, Chopra won silver medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games. Earlier, Chopra's first attempt was measured at 86.92 metre before he achieved his personal best.
The 24-year-old's throw was bested by host country's Oliver Helander, who won the gold medal with an 89.83 metre. It was also Helander’s personal best throw.
Chopra tried to touch the 90-metre mark but fouled in the rest of his throws as he could not get the desired distance.
Grenada's Anderson Peters bagged the bronze medal with his throw of 86.60 metre. This was Peters' first defeat in the season. One of the top favourites to win at the event, he finished with a below par throw. The 24-year-old is current world champion. He had registered an outrageous 93.07 metre throw at the Doha Diamond League.
Earlier, Chopra had mentioned that wants to start slow ahead of World Champions next month in Oregon, US. While Chopra won the historic gold medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a 87.58 metre throw, his earlier national record of 88.07 metre came in Patiala in March 2021.
