Grenada retains the world javelin title after Anderson Peters beat Olympic champion, Neeraj Chopra, in the World Athletics Championships held in Oregon.
He saved his best throw for last, a 90.54-meter throw, after being in the lead the whole time — thus securing the gold medal for the second time.
Peters, 24 years old, was the only athlete to throw farther than 90 meters thrice at Hayward Field, despite the windy condition.
Before this year, Peters’ best throw is at 87.31m during the 2019 Pan American Games. He has now surpassed that mark 16 times, seven of which have been beyond 90 metres.
Only one man, world record-holder Jan Zelezny, had previously won back-to-back world titles in the javelin. And while Peters was happy to join the exclusive club, he had been hoping to throw a bit farther.
“Defending a title is not an easy task; I had to push myself. I was pretty happy that I managed to do it, although I was hoping for longer throws today. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy the event and put on a show. This is my second gold, so I am very grateful for that,” said Peters.
Chopra’s best throw was 88.13m, which put her in second place. Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who won silver in Tokyo, threw 88.09m to take third place.
The 2022 World Athletics Championships started on Friday, July 15, and ended on Sunday, July 24.
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