No longer intimidated by the best, Indian athletes give reason to smile

The sight of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and compatriot Kishore Kumar Jena wrapped in the Indian tricolour after a gold-silver finish in the men's javelin evoked euphoria. And it wasn't just the medals but the manner of their victory that was truly world class.

- Avishek Roy

Pushed by his lesser-known compatriot, the newly-crowned world champion Chopra had to bring out his season's best throw (88.88) to defend his title. Jena bettered his personal best mark twice and eventually his 87.54m heave won him the second place and a lovely bonus of a Paris Olympic berth. To add some context to Jena's throw: It was the fifth best in the world this season and it would've been big enough to earn him a bronze medal at the Worlds in Budapest and a silver at the Tokyo Olympics! 

That was unimaginable a year ago when Jena's best stood at 78.05m. But the impact of Chopra has been such that Indian throwers are touching new distances in every meet. Neeraj had Jena and young Manu DP, who is also throwing close to 85m, for company in the 12-thrower final in the Budapest Worlds. Come the Paris Olympics next year and India will have soaring expectations from its band of javelin throwers.

If the spear took flight in the Hangzhou skyline -- thanks to Neeraj and Jena, the rest of India's track and field contingent has performed remarkably too. Coming in a year of the Olympics qualification, the results augur well.