Neeraj Chopra’s bid to defend his World Championship crown ended on a disappointing note, as the two-time Olympic medallist came in the eighth place in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday. The Indian star, who looked out of rhythm throughout, recorded a best throw of 84.03 m, which is quite far from his personal best of 90.23m achieved earlier this year in Doha.
23-year-old Sachin Yadav made a stunning impact in his maiden World Championship appearance, finishing fourth with a throw of 86.27m—just 40 centimetres shy of a bronze medal at the Japan National Stadium.
The gold medal went to Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, who clinched his first World title with a season’s best of 88.16m, 13 years after winning Olympic gold in London 2012. Two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada settled for silver with 87.38m, while Curtis Thompson of the USA took bronze with 86.67m—marking the country’s first World Championship medal in javelin in 18 years.
Yadav, consistent across his series, produced efforts of 84.90m and 85.96m before closing with 80.95m, outshining Chopra in five of his six throws. Despite missing out on the podium, the youngster’s performance in just his second international outing is being seen as a major boost for his future.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, still recovering from surgery, finished 10th with 82.75m. Germany’s season leader Julien Webber placed sixth with 85.54m, while Kenya’s Julius Yego, once in medal contention, withdrew midway due to a hamstring injury after reaching 85.64m.
Chopra opened with 83.65m and improved slightly to 84.03m on his second attempt but remained in eighth. Yadav, who began strongly with 86.27m to briefly sit third, fouled his second try and slipped to fourth, holding that position until the end. Nadeem survived the initial elimination round as Czech thrower Jakub Vadlejch and Australia’s Cameron McEntyre exited early.
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