Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, India’s star javelin thrower qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 on 25 August after a massive throw in the World Championships 2023. He surpassed the qualification record of 85.50 meters for the Paris Games by sending his javelin to a magnificent 88.77 meters mark on his very first attempt.
The Olympic gold medallist registered a season-best and his fourth-best career throw in Group A of the qualification round at the competition in Budapest, Hungary. Meanwhile, he also secured a spot in the World Athletics Championships finals in the interim.
The 25-year-old won a silver medal in the competition last year. This year has been fruitful for him so far, however, a muscle strain caused him to miss a month of action. He accomplished his goal of reaching the peak in the World Athletics Championships admirably. He didn’t waste any time in advancing to the top of the qualification round. He broke his own season’s record of 87.67 meters and improved it by 10 cm in the central European city.
Notably, Chopra was the only competitor in his group to make it into the final without a qualifying round. His qualifying round lasted just a few minutes as he sent the spear to his season’s and fourth career-best distance.
With the exception of Neeraj Chopra, no one crossed the automatic eligibility standard of 83.0 meters. After Julian Weber of Germany, who threw his javelin to 82.39 meters, another Indian, DP Manu, finished third with 81.31 meters.
Notably, Anderson Peters, the defending champion is at risk of being knocked out. The 2022 Champion came in eighth place in Group A and didn’t get an automatic berth. His best throw was 78.49 metres. Now, he has to rely on Group B’s performance if he wants to participate to defend his crown in the 12-man final.
It is important to note that the competitors who throw further than 83 metres automatically qualify for the final, while everyone else must wait for the best throws of the other participants in the competition to determine who would move on further.
Neeraj Chopra made history after becoming the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s javelin throw in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.