Neeraj Chopra knew the javelin would travel the distance. Once it left his right hand he did not even look at where it was landing. Neeraj just turned towards the stands of the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Sunday night and let out a roar, the roar of success, the roar of a champion.

It was his second attempt and as it panned out, that 88.17 metres throw was enough to bag him his first World Championship gold medal. Last year, he finished second to Anderson Peters of Grenada with a throw of 88.13 and promised to go for the yellow metal in Budapest.

“All this while, I was being told that this medal (World Championship) was missing, now even this has come,” Chopra said at the mixed zone. There was no hint of arrogance from this humble man.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, playing his first international tournament after elbow surgery last December and dealing with a dodgy knee for most of this season, came second with a throw of 87.82m. The evergreen Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic came third. The other two Indians in the fray, Kishore Jena and DP Manu, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Nadeem’s 81.86 in his sixth and final attempt meant Neeraj had sealed the gold. The only interest was if he could better his second-round attempt of 88.17. It was not to be as his sixth throw went 83.98m. Neeraj kissed the turf, soaked in all the adulation, went towards the fans and draped himself in the Tricolour.

The photographers came rushing for the ‘freeze frame’ and Neeraj posed happily with Vadlejch on his right. He gestured towards Nadeem to join them and the trio made for a memorable photo-op.

Ever since his gold medal-winning feat in the Tokyo Olympic Games on August 7, 2021, the 25-year-old’s stock has only gone north.

The silver in the World Championship, the pole position in the Diamond League Meeting final and now the gold at the worlds. His cabinet has everything an athlete would dream of.

Gold in the Junior World Championship (2016), Asian Championship (2017), and the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games (both in 2018) were sort of a prelude to his Tokyo exploits. He is now the most followed sportsperson in the world on social media.

So when in the wee hours of Monday he came for a news conference for the media back home, Neeraj was asked if he would be motivated enough for more success. He took his time and then answered.

“There is a saying that throwers have no finishing line. The best thing is that we have our javelin. We can always push ourselves. I may have won a lot of medals but the motivation is to throw farther and farther,” he said.

“By winning these medals, I should not think that I have achieved everything. I will work harder, push myself harder to win more medals and bring more laurels for my country. If other Indians join me on the podium next time, that will be great.”

Even though many believe Neeraj is the greatest ever athlete India has produced, he himself prefers to wade away from any comparisons.

There was a time when wrestler Sushil Kumar, after his two Olympic medals and World Championship gold, was dubbed the greatest-ever sportsperson in the country. He has fallen from grace after being accused of beating to death a former junior national wrestling champion over two years ago and is now back in Tihar Jail following knee surgery. Badminton superstar PV Sindhu also is a two-time Olympic medallist and then of course there was Milkha Singh. But Neeraj’s impact and consistency are on a different plane.

“I will never say this, the greatest of all time,” he said. “I have many things left to do and I will focus on that. I would not like to say this (greatest of all time),” was his humble answer.

Amidst all the glitter, there is one nagging question that keeps coming back to the champion: When will he hit the coveted 90m mark?

While Neeraj has been the most consistent performer since the Tokyo Olympics, most of his rivals have breached that. The likes of Vadlejch (90.88), Nadeem (90.18) and Peters (93.07) have all breached it, but they have not been as consistent as the Olympic champion.

In most of the news conferences in the past two years, Neeraj, whose personal best is 89.94 metres, has been asked when would he reach the mark. Sunday was no different.

“After the second throw, I thought I would touch the 90-metre mark tonight (Sunday),” he said. “But I had to be cautious, thinking about the groin strain, and at the same time had to push myself. I had to take care of my adductor (muscles) and focus on my throws also, that was the issue,” he said.

“But I am not losing sleep over the 90-metre jinx. My target is to win medals for the country.

“When I reach 90m, I will also try to keep it consistent. I have been working hard and waiting for when it will come. I give more importance to consistency because it gives confidence in big events. “

True. As long as medals, that too gold, are coming why put the extra burden of the 90m mark? It will happen when it has to.