NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed Neeraj Chopra for winning a gold medal in the men's javelin at the World Athletics Championships, saying his dedication, precision and passion make him not just a champion in athletics but a symbol of unparalleled excellence in the entire sports world.
Chopra on Sunday scripted history yet again as he became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Athletics Championships with a big throw of 88.17m in the men's javelin final in Budapest, Hungary.
In another first, three Indians finished in top eight with Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) taking the fifth and sixth spots, respectively.
Never before did three Indians finish in the top eight of an event in the World Championships.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi said, "The talented @Neeraj_chopra1 exemplifies excellence.
His dedication, precision and passion make him not just a champion in athletics but a symbol of unparalleled excellence in the entire sports world.
"Congrats to him for winning the Gold at the World Athletics Championships," he said.
Chopra, 25, achieved his best throw of the day in his second attempt. He had a foul to start with but then got 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m and 83.98m.
Pakistan's reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem took the silver with his season's best throw of 87.82m, while Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic got the bronze.
Chopra has now become only the second Indian -- after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra -- to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships titles.
Bindra had won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25.