A little over four years after the throw that catapulted him to Olympic Games glory, Neeraj Chopra will be back in action in Tokyo at a major final on Thursday, looking to defend his title of World Champion that he earned in Budapest two years back.
On Wednesday, Neeraj Chopra took care of business in the qualification round – as he tends to – with one throw. With automatic qualifying mark set at 84.50 (Q) or at least the best 12 qualify to Final (q), Neeraj Chopra threw 84.85m with his first attempt. The cut off for the 12th spot was at 82.80m, which was earned by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage. While most of the usual suspects have made it through safely to the highly anticipated final, a big name to miss out was Luiz Mauricio Da Silva of Brazil, who has crossed the 90m this year.
Neeraj Chopra, of course, will be among the favourites for a medal, if not outright for the gold, having thrown 90.23m in Doha at the Diamond League earlier this year to create a new Personal Best, but he hasn’t quite hit those heights since. While it is never ideal to read too much into qualification performances, because the bare minimum is often enough for these top athletes, the fact that Anderson Peters, Julian Weber, Julius Yego and Arshad Nadeem found bigger throws than Neeraj on Wednesday is an indication that we are in for a tight competition in the final.
A total of SEVEN athletes out of the 12 in the men’s javelin throw final – including Neeraj Chopra, Julian Weber and Arshad Nadeem – already belong in the elite 90m+ club. India will have two athletes, with Sachin Yadav joining Neeraj with a mark of 83.67m.
Here’s a look at how Neeraj Chopra’s main contenders for spots on the podium have fared in 2025 so far:
Neeraj Chopra: (PB 90.23, SB 90.23)
Julian Weber: (PB: 91.51, SB: 91.51)
Weber, currently ranked No 1 in the world and the leading thrower this year, opened with 82.29m in the qualification then took care of the business with 87.21m in his second throw. He started the year by crossing the 90m along with Neeraj Chopra in Doha, when he breached 91.06m. He went on to better that with a stunning 91.51m at the Zurich Diamond League final. He also has a 89.65m to his name this year at Brussels DL, and on form, the most consistent big distance thrower of the year without a doubt.
Anderson Peters: (PB: 93.07, SB: 89.53)
Anderson Peters is one of the strongest contenders for a medal at the World Athletics Championships. (Screengrab via JioHotstar)
As a two-time former World Champion, Peters is the most decorated at this event among the finalists. He has had an up-and-down 2025, but showed on Wednesday that he is still capable of that special big throw, leading the pack with 89.53m, which he threw with his second attempt. That is the best of his year so far. He had a couple of 85+ throws earlier in the year before the qualification round, but seems to have turned up in Tokyo with good form behind his back.
Arshad Nadeem: (PB: 92.97, SB: 86.40)
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The enigma that is the Olympic champion from Paris. Pakistan’s Nadeem has barely competed since last August when he stunned the world – and Neeraj – with a remarkable 92.97m gold-medal winning throw at Stade de France. Arshad, who was slated to compete in a couple of Diamond League meets in the lead-up to Worlds but ultimately didn’t, has a season best of 86.40 which he threw to win the Asian Championships gold. After 76.99 an 74.17 with his first two attempts, Nadeem managed to find a critical 85.28 with his third and last try to get the Q. But as usual, it’s impossible to predict Nadeem’s form, given the number of events he takes part in.
Julius Yego: (PB: 92.72, SB: 85.96)
Like Neeraj, the former world champion from Kenya, needed just one throw on Wednesday to qualify, and it was a new season best of 85.96m. His previous best was 84.51m at the NC Classic in Bengaluru.
Jakub Vadlejch: (PB: 90.88, SB 84.11)
Vadlejch was a near constant compantion to Neeraj on podiums in the last couple of years but 2025 has not been kind for the Czech athlete. But the Olympic and World Championships silver medallist has made the cut to the final, coming up with a season best throw of 84.11 in qualification. He has competed only in two other events this year, with marks of 79.60m at Doha DL and 82.33m at a Slovakian meet last month. But given his pedigree, we couldn’t rule him out just yet for a surprise.
Keshorn Walcott: (PB: 90.16, SB 86.30)
Another former Olympic champion in the fray, Walcott threw a solid 83.93 to qualify. His season best came at a DL meet in Belgium late August, when he threw 86.30m. He followed that up with another decent 84.95 at the Zurich DL final where he finished third behind Weber and Neeraj.
