World Athletics Championships: Neeraj Chopra qualifies for javelin final with his season-best throw of 88.77m

One throw and done! Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra needed only one throw to qualify for the final of men’s javelin at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Friday. The Olympic gold medalist threw his season-best 88.77m in his first attempt after going 17th in Group A of the qualification in men’s javelin at Budapest’s National Athletics Center in Hungary.

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It was well above the automatic qualification mark of 83.0m. Neeraj, wearing the blue Indian jersey, walked onto the pitch with his spear and hurled it across the yellow line to book a spot in the final. It’s the second-best throw in the season in the world. Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch, who will be in action in Group B of qualification on Friday, holds the season-best throw of 89.51m.

Neeraj Chopra also qualified for the 2024 Olympics with a big throw of 88.77m in his first attempt, which also got him to the World Championships final of the javelin throw competition. The qualifying mark for the 2024 Olympics in Paris is 85.50m. On July 1, the qualifying period began.

Notably, Chopra had come agonisingly close to becoming India’s first world champion in any athletics discipline at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon but had to settle for a silver medal after finishing second to Grenada’s Anderson Peters. However, it was India’s first-ever silver medal at the World Athletics Championships and the country’s second medal at the global event, following Anju Bobby George’s bronze medal in the long jump in Paris in 2003.

After this 88.77m throw, Neeraj Chopra climbed to second in the men’s javelin world leaders this season. Neeraj trails Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch (89.51m). No one has broken the 90m barrier this year, and it might not be a bad time for Neeraj to do so in the final.

In addition to winning gold medals at the Olympics, Asian Games, and the Commonwealth Games, the 25-year-old Neeraj Chopra is also a Diamond League champion. However, the Indian javelin ace has never won the top prize at the World Athletics Championships. Neeraj will now be eyeing that elusive gold medal both for his personal medals cabinet and his country when he competes in the 12-man final, scheduled on Sunday.