Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra becomes first Indian to set world record

The 18-year old logs a throw of 86.48 metres, surges ahead of reigning Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to set a world record on his way to win a gold medal at the IAAF World U-20 Athletics Championship at Bydgoszcz in Poland on Saturday.

Neeraj, who hails from Khandra village of Panipat, logged a throw of 86.48m to become the first Indian athlete to win gold at any world athletics championship.

The 18-year-old Indian athlete kicked off his first round with a throw of 79.66m that put him in second place before he bounced back strongly to post the world record in his second attempt.

South Africa's Johan Grobler finished second with a throw of 80.59m ahead of Grenada's Anderson Peters, who logged 79.69m.

With the feat, Chopra has also snapped the old world record of 84.69 metres held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais.

He also bettered his previous personal best of 82.23 set at the South Asian Games earlier this year, which was incidentally a national record.

Neeraj's throw also put him ahead of reigning defending Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott, who recorded his best at 86.35m in 2016.