World Athletics Championships: Chopra, World No 1 Weber drawn in same qualification group
Chopra, who won gold in Budapest last year, will look to become only the third man to retain the crown after his coach Jan Zelezny and Grenada’s Anderson Peters. His task is far from straightforward with several 90m throwers in the fray.
Neeraj Chopra
TOKYO: Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will begin his World Championships title defence in the men’s javelin qualification round on Wednesday, entering a high-profile field that includes Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem and Germany’s Julian Weber.
Chopra, who won gold in Budapest last year, will look to become only the third man to retain the crown after his coach Jan Zelezny and Grenada’s Anderson Peters. His task is far from straightforward with several 90m throwers in the fray.
Nadeem, who beat Chopra at the Paris Olympics with a mammoth 92.97m, will again be one of his strongest challengers. Chopra had managed 89.45m in that final but will not meet his rival immediately as the two are drawn in separate groups for qualification.
Weber, the Diamond League champion, Peters, veteran Jakub Vadlejch, former world and Olympic champions Julius Yego and Keshorn Walcott, and Brazil’s Luiz da Silva further strengthen the competition.
India will have its biggest-ever presence in the event with Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav also lining up alongside Chopra. While Chopra qualified as defending champion, the other three secured entry via world rankings.
Chopra has been placed in Group A with Weber, Walcott, Vadlejch and Sachin, while Group B features Nadeem, Peters, Yego, Da Silva, Rohit and Yashvir. The top 12 or those breaching 84.50m will progress to Thursday’s final.
The 27-year-old Chopra comes to Tokyo with mixed form. He breached the 90m mark at the Doha Diamond League in May but has also recorded several modest efforts below 85m this season. His next-best mark has been 88.16m.
Weber, meanwhile, has been the most consistent thrower this year, leading the charts with 91.51m and registering three 90m-plus efforts. He also holds a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Chopra in 2025, including victory at the Diamond League Final last month.
Nadeem enters the championships with limited competition time, having thrown 86.40m to win the Asian title in May before undergoing calf surgery in July. Despite his sparse schedule, he has proved capable of producing on the big stage, as shown in Paris.
The men’s javelin has emerged as one of athletics’ most anticipated contests, especially for Indian fans. In Budapest, Chopra led a memorable show where Kishore Jena and DP Manu also made the final, finishing fifth and sixth.
Expectations will be no less this week as Chopra returns to the Tokyo Olympic stadium, the venue of his historic 2021 triumph.
