He was already destined for greatness, but Tokyo Olympics was the event that truly established Neeraj Chopra’s place in the country’s collective sporting consciousness. The country’s first-ever track and field Olympic Games champion. He went where no Indian had gone before him. On Thursday, back at the same arena, he experienced what he hadn’t in many years. 2,566 days, to be exact. For the first time since September 2018, Neeraj was outside the top three in an event he participated in, as he finished eighth at the Tokyo Athletics Championships to bring an end to – arguably – the most remarkable podium streak in Indian sport.
“Kaafi time baad dekh raha hoon mein. (I am seeing this after a long time),” Neeraj told reporters at the venue afterward. “I had some problems before coming to Tokyo. Two weeks ago, I had some back issues but didn’t want to tell anyone.”
Indeed, it’s not a place Neeraj is used to. Even at the Paris Olympics last year, Neeraj sounded despondent despite winning a magnificent silver to finish behind only a freakish mega throw by Arshad Nadeem. He opened up after the event about the body not feeling right for a long time, how his groin niggle was making life difficult, and that burning desire to find that one big throw. While Neeraj has remained in good physical health for most of 2025, breaching 90m at the start of the season, the sudden back niggle derailed his title defence.
India’s Neeraj Chopra reacts in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Neeraj and coach Jan Zelezny came into the event knowing they wouldn’t be able to nail a good throw technically. Neeraj also had issues with his run-up in the earlier throws, and in trying to protect his back, he was falling towards the left after releasing. With time running out, Neeraj needed a big effort with his 5th throw to stay away from elimination but with rain picking up, he slipped and tumbled beyond the foul line.
“We used to do a shot put throw as part of our training, back throw and front throw. As soon as I tried to do the front throw by bending forward, I felt a jerk on my back on the left side, I felt a pull… that is the side I use to block when I throw with my left leg,” Neeraj explained in a video uploaded by NNIS Sports.
“After that, I couldn’t even walk properly. This happened on the 4th, in the evening session. We went to Prague the next day and got an MRI done; there was a problem with my disc. I continued my rehab after reaching Tokyo, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to participate, but decided to go ahead.”
While there wasn’t an indication during the Qualification round on Wednesday that Neeraj wasn’t 100% physically fit, there were enough signs that the final on Thursday was going to be a wild one. And it exceeded even the wildest imaginations as 2012 London Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott walked away with the gold medal, winning the World Championships for the first time since his last Major triumph 13 years ago. He was the only athlete in the 12-man final to cross 88m on the night, clinching gold with 88.16m.
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“Olympic victory at the age of 19 was incredible. I could never beat it. But every World Championship I hoped I was ready. I have been fighting for this but I was always off the podium. I even thought that the championships are not my competition. But I never gave up. If I had given up, I would not be here,” Walcott told World Athletics. And perhaps in that, Neeraj – still only 27 years old – can see the silver lining too, knowing that this doesn’t have to be more than just a minor blip in his already GOATed collection of medals.
But there was another reason to smile. While Neeraj’s hope of somehow pulling off one throw that made the difference didn’t quite pan out, he can take heart from the fact that India were the only country to have two participants in the final and his younger compatriot nearly clinched bronze. In his interview with the reporters, one of the first things Neeraj mentioned was how happy he felt to see India’s Sachin Yadav throw a new Personal Best and come less than half a meter from the podium. His 86.27m was just 40 cms short of Curtis Thompson’s bronze medal-clinching 86.67m, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters made it a Caribbean 1-2 with a 87.38m mark. In another sign that the men’s javelin discipline has gone truly global, Tokyo 2025 marked the first time in the history of men’s javelin throw at the World Championships that no European finished in the top three, just as it had transpired in 2024 at Paris Olympics. Only last year, it was an Asian 1-2 with Neeraj and Nadeem —but the Indian and Pakistani athletes finished 8th and 10th respectively.
Neeraj, perhaps still hurting inside, put up a brave front and vowed to learn from this rarest of rare missteps. “Pata nahi, matlab theek hai…. life hai, sports hai.”
