India's ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra bagged his fifth gold medal at the Sottevile Athletics Meet in France on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old threw 85.17m to grab the top spot at the event in France, ahead of the Asian Games this year in Indonesia.
Chopra joined an elite list of Indian athletes when he claimed a gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (CWG), where his 86.47 meters effort saw him become the first Indian to win a Gold in the CWG in javelin. However, his list of gold medals goes way back to the 2016 South Asian Games, where he equalled the Indian national record with an 82.23-meter throw.
Chopra also set a world junior record with his gold at the 2016 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) U20 World Championships in Poland. At the IAAF Diamond League 2018 in Doha, he once again made it to the record books with his 87.43-meter throw, a national record.
The young thrower is one of India's brightest medal prospects in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games, scheduled to be held from August 18 to September 2 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.
Despite not qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Chopra will be eyeing a spot at the 2020 Games, maybe even a medal hopefully when they get underway in Tokyo.
While Chopra bagged the gold, Adrian Mardare of Moldova claimed the silver medal with an 81.48 meters throw, and Edis Matusevicius of Lithuania came in third place with a 79.31-meter effort.
