Neeraj Chopra's historic gold underlined an encouraging performance by Indian athletes at the 2023 IAAF World Championships.
With new personal bests and national records, eight Indians made it to the finals: men's javelin (3), men's long jump (1), women's steeplechase (1) and the men's 4x400m relay. And one came back with a medal - Neeraj.
Here, ESPN India looks at the key takeaways from the campaign:
Neeraj, oh Neeraj
In our preview for the World Championships, we had listed out India's realistic, optimistic, and pessimistic medal chances. One name was common in all three categories: Neeraj Chopra.
There never was a doubt, you see. He competed in only two events this year, an adductor strain had troubled him, and he wasn't in the kind of form he would have liked to be, but there never really was a doubt. A medal was given, gold was the hope. Neeraj, as always, exceeded hopes and expectations.
Neeraj went about doing Neeraj things. He qualified for the final in his very first throw (88.77m) and came up on top in the final (with a throw of 88.17m) against a field of world-class throwers. He's won everything there is to win in athletics, from the Olympic gold to a World Championship gold, but he still won't admit he's India's athletics GOAT. He's got plenty in the tank to push himself further, closer to that 90m mark that he's come close to, without ever breaching.
"As they say, throwers don't have a finish line. No matter how many medals you win, there will always be the motivation that you can throw further." That's what keeps Neeraj going.
Kishore pulls the big guns
Until late July this year, Kishore had never travelled outside India. His first trip was to the island nation of Sri Lanka, an hour away from India. But none of that was to prepare him for a trip, by himself, halfway across the globe to Hungary.
It was anything but easy: his visa was cancelled a couple of days before he was to leave and some last-minute administration magic, including a tweet from Neeraj, ensured he got to Budapest safe and sound. And the result? A new personal best of 84.77m and a fifth-place finish in his World Championships debut.
Props to another Worlds debutant, DP Manu, who threw 84.XX to finish sixth - making it the first time India has ever had three of the top six finishers in any major global track and field final.
Parul charts her path to glory
While the men's javelin final attracted all the interest, Parul Chaudhary quietly went about decimating the 3000m steeplechase national record. She clocked 9:15.31s, which was...wait for it...NINE seconds faster than her earlier PB of 9:24.29s. Which she set four days ago, in the qualifying heats.
Parul is going to Paris ��
Parul Chaudhary sets a new National Record with a timing of 9:15.31 in the Women's 3000m Steeplechase final and books her ticket to the 2024 Olympics!#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/BwAVKmzvbv
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) August 28, 2023
If the goal of any athlete is to do their best at such big events, she's done that and then some. Her blistering run also saw her qualify for the Paris Olympics, and will serve as a big boost to her ahead of the Asian Games.
4x400m team with a historic finish
When was the last time you saw an Indian team finish just behind Team USA in a track event? That's just what the Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh did as they clocked 2:59:05 to break the Asian record. They also broke the national record by nearly a second, which was set at the Tokyo Olympics.
They finished fifth in the final, where they weren't really considered medal contenders, but their inspired effort has made them the talk of the town. Come Asian Games, they start as strong favourites.
Jumpers disappoint, Sable falls short
Among six jumpers, across the men's triple and long jump, only one managed to qualify for the final: Jeswin Aldrin.
Eldhose Paul [15.59m] jumped 17.03m to win the 2022 CWG but has not crossed the 17m mark even once in six competitions over the last year, while Praveen Chithravel, the world's 5th-best triple jumper in 2023, managed only a best of 16.38m, which was a whole meter away from his PB of 17.37m. Abdulla Aboobacker, who won silver at the 2022 CWG, was the best among the Indians with a 16.61m, which was not enough for a place in the final.
Among the long jumpers, Jeswin and Sreeshankar Murali were ranked #1 and #2 respectively in terms of the longest jumps of 2023, but could not produce a single jump past 8m.
Sreeshankar had a miserable outing as he finished 22nd out of 37 athletes in qualifying with a best jump of 7.74m - one of his worst jumps of the year. Jeswin made the final with an 8m attempt but failed to perform at the big stage as he fouled twice before registering a meek 7.77m to finish 11th.
Meanwhile, Avinash Sable had one foot in the final but his race strategy let him down in the final 200-odd meters of the 3000m steeplechase heats. Sable clocked 8:22.24 to finish seventh in his heat and that wasn't good enough to make the final cut. He was reduced to tears by the ouster, but knowing him, he will look to bounce back in style in a month's time in Huangzhou.