Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday congratulated Neeraj Chopra after he clinched the silver medal in the men's javelin throw final at the prestigious World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
Neeraj recorded a distance of 88.13m in his fourth attempt in the men's javelin throw final and secured the second position.
"Neeraj Chopra has made history by winning silver in the WorldAthleticsChampionships. This is the first time India has won a silver in this championship. Anju Bobby George won the bronze medal in 2003. I congratulate him. He has made Haryana proud," Mr Khattar told ANI.
"I would also like to share my greetings to Neeraj's family in Panipat and congratulate them on their son's success. I just pray that he would ahead and keep on making the country proud in the field of sports," he added.
The Chief Minister further said that the sports facilities given by the Haryana Government is one of the reasons for the state excelling in sports.
"Haryana Government always supported sports in every sense. We gave a great infrastructure and provided our athletes with proper training. The cash prize which is supposed to be given to the players after the tournament, we gave some per cent of that to them during the time of practice. These are some reasons why Haryana is excelling in the field of sports," said the Chief Minister.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised Neeraj Chopra for winning the silver medal.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote, "A great accomplishment by one of our most distinguished athletes! Congratulations to @Neeraj_chopra1 on winning a historic Silver medal at the #WorldChampionships. This is a special moment for Indian sports. Best wishes to Neeraj for his upcoming endeavours."
The Olympic medallist started the proceedings with a foul throw, which was followed by 82.39m and 86.37m. It was finally in the fourth attempt when he recorded the distance of 88.13m, which put him in contention for the silver medal.
The last two attempts by Neeraj went foul throws, and thus, he ended up in the second position. The first position was held by defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who recorded a distance of 90.54m.
Neeraj also became India's first ever track and field athlete to take the silver medal in the World Championships, and second to bag a podium finish after the legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George had finished third in the Paris Worlds in 2003.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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