Neeraj Chopra praises Chandrayaan-3 mission, chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa amid World Athletics Championships final in Budapest

From landing on the moon to bagging the silver medal at the Chess World Cup, India has had an incredible week, and now Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has given yet another reason to rejoice by qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday.

Chopra gave a sterling performance to seal his spot in the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, being held from August 19 to 27.

Placed in the Group A Qualifier, Chopra recorded a massive throw of 88.77m in his first attempt, breaching the qualifying mark of 83.00m. With this, the star player also bagged the ticket to play at the Paris Olympics in 2024.


Following his performance on the field, Chopra interacted with the media, where the athlete was asked whether he feels inspired by India’s recent Chandrayaan-3 moon landing mission?

Chopra answered this by simply saying, "Yes. All Indians are proud of ISRO."

India has made history by reaching the uncharted south pole of Earth's moon on Wednesday. The country is now the fourth nation to have achieved this feat.

Further, on being questioned about the 18-year-old chess champ R Praggnanandhaa, who won the runner-up title at the Chess World Cup, Chopra expressed his pride towards the young talent and said, "Very proud of Praggnanandhaa. He played very well against Magnus Carlsen."


In the upcoming Budapest 2023 world athletics championships, the qualifying mark for the men's javelin throw final is set at 83.00 metres.

Last year, the silver medal in the World Championships at Eugene was secured by a 25-year-old athlete who had also clinched a medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Chopra himself has had an impressive track record with gold medals in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games, along with a notable victory in the Diamond League.