Neeraj Chopra achieves rare feat for an Indian athlete, becomes world's top javelin thrower

Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra added a new feather to his cap as he became the world number one for the first time in his career, as per the latest men's javelin throw rankings issued by the World Athletics.

Chopra topped the charts with 1,455 points, 22 ahead of Grenada's reigning world champion Anderson Peters (1433).

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic was third with 1416 points.

The 25-year-old Chopra rose to world number two on August 30 last year but had been stuck behind Peters since then.

In September last year, Neeraj Chopra won the Diamond League 2022 finals in Zurich, becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious event.

He won the title at the season-opening Doha Diamond League on May 5 with a throw of 88.67 metres.

He will next compete at the FBK Games on June 4 in the Netherlands, followed by the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 13.

In August 2021, Chopra became the first athlete and only second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold when he won the title at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Indian javelin thrower threw 87.58 metre to win an Olympic gold. His gold was only the second individual Olympic gold for India after shooter Abhinav Bindra's historic feat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

(With inputs from PTI)