For some athletes, revenge is a very sweet feeling. This is mostly because sportspersons from a particular event face off against each other regularly, and use their rivals to push themselves to the limit. And the World Athletics Championships Javelin Throw defending champion Anderson Peters must feel the same, having beaten India's sporting legend Neeraj Chopra to the Gold medal.
The Grenadian won Gold with a mighty throw of 90.54. Three of his throws crossed the 90m mark, way ahead of his counterparts. This was in addition to him topping the qualification round as well, with a throw of 89.91m.
The battle of the Javelin giants
Both the Javelin heavyweights are 24 years old and have established themselves as a household name in the sport across all major Global events.
The first time that these two fought for a major title was at the 2016 IAAF World Under-20 Championships, where Neeraj won the Gold, and Anderson had to settle for Bronze at that event. Neeraj bested him again at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning the Gold while Peters bagged a Bronze yet again. And Neeraj's Gold quest at the Olympics is much documented, while Peters could not even qualify for the final event.
The podium monopoly of Anderson Peters and Neeraj Chopra
Even in the current season, Neeraj has beaten Anderson to the Gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games and Kuortane Games in Finland in June. But the most important competition in the build-up to the World Athletics Championship was the Stockholm Diamond League, where Peters reserved his best performance with a 90.31m-threw, much more than Neeraj's personal best of 89.94m for the top spot.
At the Doha Diamond League, Peters bagged his own personal best, with the massive throw of 93.07m, the fifth-best of all time.
Peters currently holds the top ranking in the Men's Javelin Throw event, while Neeraj Chopra is currently ranked fourth. This is a second consecutive Gold for Peters at the World Athletics Championships. In 2019, he won gold with a throw of 86.89m, with Neeraj missing out after suffering an injury.
The duo have created a monopoly on the podium in recent times. If Peters gets Gold, Silver goes to Neeraj and vice versa. The two of them will now clash at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) and the Indian golden boy will hope to oust his rival and close counterpart yet again.
