Neeraj Chopra claimed silver in the 2022 World Athletics Championships with a throw of 88.13m, as Anderson Peters became only the second man in history to defend his Worlds gold with a 90.54m throw. Jakub Vadlejch finished third with a throw of 88.09m.
Chopra is the second Indian to medal at the Worlds, after Anju Bobby George's bronze in 2003.
He started with a foul throw to begin with, while compatriot Rohit Yadav opened with a throw of 77.96m. Peters threw 90.21m with his first effort, the third-best throw of 2022 to lead the field after the first round.
Chopra managed 82.39m with his second effort, while Yadav improved to 78.05m. Peters underlined his good form with a 90.46m throw to retain his lead after the second round, with Chopra in 5th and Yadav in 8th at that point.
The Olympic champion improved to 4th in the third round with an 86.37m throw, with Yadav also improving with a 78.72m throw - but he dropped down to 10th place - thus ending his run at the Worlds, as the top 8 went through to the final three rounds.
Chopra climbed to 2nd with an 88.13m throw in his fourth attempt, accompanied with his customary yell. A foul in the fifth round was accompanied by the rest of the field failing to improve as well. Chopra's final effort was a disappointing one, and he stepped over the mark to foul out.
With the gold secured, Peters bettered his own mark with a final throw of 90.54m, his third effort over 90m.
Elsewhere, Eldhose Paul finished 9th in the men's Triple Jump finals, with a 16.79m jump, as Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo of Portugal won gold with a jump of 17.95m.
Earlier, Chopra made quick work of qualifying for the finals, throwing his third-best ever throw of 88.39m to beat the automatic qualifying mark of 83.50m with his first throw. It was the first time he qualified for the Worlds final, having failed to do so in 2017 and missing the 2019 edition with an injury. Peters was the only one to better Chopra's throw in qualification, with an 89.91m throw.
Chopra had been in stellar form in his return to the sport since his gold in Tokyo. An 89.30m throw in the Paavo Nurmi games set a national record, although he finished second to Finland's Oliver Helander (89.83m). He followed that up with a win in the Kourtane Games four days later, with an 86.69m throw beating a star-studded field in tricky conditions.
The 24-year-old came close to his aim of breaching the 90m mark in the Diamond League in Stockholm next, throwing 89.94m to break the national record once more (for the twenty-seventh time). However, he finished second to Peters (90.31m).