One throw, two targets achieved. That was Neeraj Chopra at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Friday.
The javelin star needed just one big throw to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics and the World Championships final, pulling off a commendable first-attempt of 88.77m on Friday.
Not only Neeraj but DP Manu (81.31m) and Kishore Jena (80.55m) also made the cut as three Indians qualified for the final of an event in the World Championships for the first time.
The 2024 Paris Olympics qualifying mark is 85.50m. The qualifying window had opened on July 1.
The 25-year-old Neeraj's qualifying round lasted just a few minutes as he sent the spear to his season's best distance in his very first attempt in the Group A qualification round.
Such was the impact of the throw that a commentator went overboard and said, "The javelin god touched him when he was a child and said you will have a rocket for a right arm."
Neeraj, who topped the qualification round on Friday, had won a silver in the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, USA.
With the automatic final qualification mark set for 83m, Neeraj, who has a personal best of 89.94m, packed up and left the competition arena without taking any further throws. The final will be held on Sunday.
Those who throw 83m or the top-12 best performers from both Group A and B qualify for the final.
Competing in the same group with Neeraj, Manu finished third and sixth overall with a best throw of 81.31m which he produced in his second attempt. Manu had won a silver in the Asian Championships in July.
Jena, whose visa was initially rejected by the Hungarian embassy in New Delhi before being cleared the next day, ended fifth in Group B and ninth overall with 80.55m. Like Manu, it is also his debut World Championships.
"For the first time, three Indians have qualified for the final round of an event in World Championships. It has never happened earlier. It's a historic day for Indian javelin," a team coach in the Indian contingent said.
India first participated in the World Championships in 1983.
A competitor gets three attempts in the qualifying round.
Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan also qualified for the 2024 Paris Games with his season-best throw of 86.79m. Nadeem, a bronze medallist in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia where Neeraj had won gold, topped Group B and finished second overall.
Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic, who won silver behind Neeraj in the Tokyo Olympics, was second in Group B and third overall with a best throw of 83.50m.
Germany's Julian Weber was fourth overall with a best throw of 82.39m.
Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, struggling for form this season, failed to qualify for the final, finishing 16th overall with a best throw of 78.49m.
A World Championships gold is the only medal missing from Neeraj's decorated cabinet.
Going by the performances of other competitors in the qualification round, the India superstar looked primed to achieve the feat and add another laurel in his illustrious career.
Written with inputs from PTI
