Golden boy Neeraj Chopra rises to world No. 2 in World rankings

Neeraj Chopra became India’s first Olympic gold medallist in track-and-field events with a best attempt of 87.58m in the men’s javelin throw final.

Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra rose to No. 2 sport in the latest rankings issued by World Athletics on Wednesday (August 11). Neeraj, who won gold in men’s javelin throw, was ranked second with a score of 1315, only behind Germany’s Johannes Vetter who leads the rankings with a score of 1396 but failed to make it to the top 8 position in the final at Tokyo Olympics. Poland’s Marcin Krukowski (three), Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (four) – who won silver medal at Tokyo – and Germany’s Julian Weber (five) complete the top five in the rankings. Neeraj Chopra became India’s first Olympic gold medallist in track-and-field events with a best attempt of 87.58m in the men’s javelin throw final. Neeraj’s attempt also contributed to India finishing with their best-ever medals tally of seven at the Olympics. Neeraj Chopra was accorded a grand welcome upon his return to India and was felicitated along with some of India's other medallists at the Tokyo Olympics by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and former Sports Minister Kiren Rijiu among others in a glittering ceremony in New Delhi.