World Athletics Championships 2025: It was a case of deja vu for Neeraj Chopra! Just like he had qualified for the final of the Tokyo Olympics with a single qualification throw four years ago, he has qualified for the final of the ongoing 2025 World Championships with a single heave in qualifying on Wednesday at the same stadium. Neeraj ended his afternoon in Tokyo with a throw of 84.85m with the automatic qualification mark set at 84.50m. Neeraj was the only thrower out of 19 contenders in Group A to qualify with his first attempt itself.
Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, who was competing in Group B, needed three throws to qualify for the final. He managed just 76.99m and 74.17m with his first two attempts. But just when it looked like he would not make the cut, he threw 85.28m with his final attempt to seal a spot in the final.
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Neeraj will be joined in the final of the World Championship by Sachin Yadav, who threw a best attempt of 83.67m to secure his qualification as one of the 12 best jumpers on the night. The other two Indians in contention, Yash Vir Singh and Rohit Yadav, could not qualify.
The day had seen Neeraj Chopra return to Tokyo — the place where he became a Olympic champion in 2021 — to try and win his third World Athletics Championships medal. With the qualification of the javelin throw event behind him, Neeraj will return to the same venue for the final tomorrow.
Neeraj Chopra was in Group A with German thrower Julian Weber, Jakub Vadlejch and Keshorn Walcott. Reigning Olympic champion from Pakistan, Arshad Nadeem, was Group B, along with Anderson Peters and Julius Yego.
Neeraj Chopra is in Tokyo chasing another piece of silverware for his burgeoning medals cabinet which has an Olympic gold from Tokyo 2021 and an Olympic silver from Paris 2024 besides a World Athletics Championship gold from Budapest 2023 and a Worlds silver from Oregon 2022. 2025 has already Neeraj Chopra breach the elusive 90m mark for the first time, with a throw of 90.23metres at the Doha Diamond League.
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Scroll down to follow all the updates on our liveblog from the World Athletics Championships with a focus on Neeraj Chopra’s javelin throw qualification event
Can Neeraj Chopra stave off Julian Weber challenge at World Championships?
Neeraj Chopra and Julian Weber entered the 90-metre club at the same competition, the Doha Diamond League in May.
Last year’s Paris Olympics marked the first time a European male didn’t win a medal in the javelin throw at the Summer Games. An Asian 1-2, with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem winning gold, India’s Neeraj Chopra silver and the third place going to Grenada’s Anderson Peters. European representation started at fourth-place, Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, followed by Germany’s Julian Weber sixth. Finland’s fall as a javelin powerhouse showed too — a trio from the Nordic country taking the last three top 10 spots.
A year on from the Olympics, the responsibility of a European medal winner will fall on the broad shoulders of Germany’s Julian Weber at the World Championships in Tokyo. The 31-year-old is having the year of his life, entering the 90-metre club and winning the Diamond League Final in Zurich. He’s thrown the spear further than anybody else this year, his 91.51 metres better than Luiz Mauricio da Silva’s 91 metres and Chopra’s 90.23m.
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AloJapan.com