Defending champion Neeraj Chopra secured his place in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Championships with an impressive first throw of 84.85m on Wednesday, September 17, surpassing the automatic qualification mark of 84.50m. The 27-year-old, a two-time Olympic medallist, was the first competitor in Group A and confidently exited the qualification round after his opening effort, reported PTI.

Qualification round details

Chopra competed in a 19-man Group A alongside notable athletes like Germany’s Julian Weber, who qualified with a throw of 87.21m, Keshorn Walcott, Jakub Vadlejch, and India’s Sachin Yadav. The qualification criteria allowed athletes reaching the 84.50m mark or the top 12 performers overall to advance to Thursday’s final. Group B, featuring 18 athletes including Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Anderson Peters, Julius Yego, Luiz Da Silva, Rohit Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, also competed on Wednesday.

Chopra’s historic ambition

Chopra aims to become only the third male javelin thrower to defend his World Championships title, following Czech legend Jan Zelezny (1993, 1995), now his coach, and Anderson Peters (2019, 2022). In the previous championships in Budapest, Chopra clinched gold with a throw of 88.17m, followed by Nadeem (87.82m) with silver and Vadlejch (86.67m) with bronze.

Rivalry renewed

The final will mark Chopra’s first encounter with Arshad Nadeem since the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Nadeem claimed gold with a record-breaking 92.97m throw, while Chopra secured silver with 89.45m. The upcoming final offers Chopra an opportunity to challenge his rival and reclaim his dominance.