World Athletics Championships: Neeraj Chopra begins quest for historic gold medal in javelin qualification

Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra will be hoping to make a statement when he begins his World Athletics Championships 2023 campaign in Budapest on Friday, August 25. The 25-year-old will be looking to add the missing piece to his already flourishing trophy cabinet and lay down an early marker ahead of his title defence at the Paris Olympics next year.

Neeraj Chopra has won it all in his nascent career. Following the Olympic Gold medal in Tokyo, Neeraj became the first Indian to win the Diamond Trophy, finishing at the top in the men’s javelin field at the Diamond League final last year.

Neeraj Chopra also became the first-ever Indian silver medalist at the World Athletics Championships when he won the silver in Eugene last year. The gold medal was denied by Anderson Peters of Grenada, who threw 90.54m in his final attempt. Neeraj, with a best effort of 88.13, was primed for Gold until Peters’ last throw.

Neeraj will be hoping to script history when he begins action in Group A of men’s javelin in Budapest on Friday. A total of 37 throwers are in the fray and along with Neeraj, India have 2 other representations in DP Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena, who reached Budapest after successfully overcoming visa hurdles.

Neeraj Chopra is currently at 3rd spot in terms of the world leaders ths season in men’s javelin. With a best effort of 88.67m with which he won the Doha Diamond League in May, Neeraj is behind Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch (89.51m) and Germany’s experienced Julian Weber (88.72m).

No one has breached the 90m mark this year and it might not be a bad time for Neeraj to breach the coveted mark in Budapest. A lot depends on the conditions on Friday but Neeraj had hinted about going past the mark in the coming months.

“Definitely, I’m close. I just need one perfect day with favourable weather conditions and I am confident I’ll be able to achieve the throw,” Neeraj told JioCinema before he headed to Budapest.

INDIANS IN ACTION IN MEN’S JAVELIN

Neeraj Chopra – PB: 89.94m; SB: 88.67m
DP Manu – PB: 84.35m; SB: 84.33m
Kishore Jena – PB and SB: 84.38m

It will also be interesting to see how Anderson Peters does to defend his world medal, considering he has not looked the best since recovering from an injury last year. His best this season has been an 85.88m throw which came in Doha.

All eyes will also be on Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist. Arshad, who became the first South Asian javelin star to breach the 90m mark, has had injury issues and underwent knee surgery earlier this year. He will be hoping to hit the strides in Budapest and a strong field in men’s javelin will offer all the athletes a good platform to test themselves ahead of upcoming major tournaments.

Ahead of the Asian Games next month, the three Indians in the fray and Arshad Nadeem will be eyeing a good show. The performances of DP Manu and Kishore Jena will also be closely watched as a final berth will boost their confidence after having done the hard yards so far.