Neeraj Chopra revealed the painful thought of possibly pulling out after his disappointing performance at the World Athletics Championships. The reigning Olympic champion and defending World Champion faced heartbreak in Tokyo, finishing eighth in the men’s javelin throw final, unable to defend his title. His best throw measured 84.03m, falling short of the top contenders. His compatriot, debutant Sachin Yadav, delivered a personal best of 86.27m to finish fourth, narrowly missing a podium position.
Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad secured the gold medal with a throw of 88.16m, followed by Anderson Peters of Grenada in second place with 87.38m, and American Curtis Thompson taking bronze with 86.67m.
Opens Up
Speaking candidly after the event, Neeraj attributed his result to ongoing injury struggles and admitted uncertainty about participating at all. “I don’t know. It is fine, it is sports, its life. I have seen this for a long time, normally I would handle the situation. But today, it was a different day. Actually before coming, when we were training in Czech Republic, only few team members knew that I am dealing with an injury problem, I also told the federation, that I have some back issues. I couldn’t train for two weeks. So, I was going through rehabilitation,” he disclosed.
Neeraj explained that they were initially unsure if he would compete but decided to go ahead. “I did an easy session to make sure that I can play, and yesterday it was an easy throw. But still I felt that I would try, but it didn’t happen because I didn’t train much and I wasn’t feeling that healthy. But whatever happened today, I will learn from this and I will bounce back next season.”
Neeraj expressed pride in Sachin Yadav’s performance, stating, “I am very happy for Sachin. I was thinking today that India will take a medal, but its fine. He performed in such a big platform with such nice throws. I am very happy. Our javelin future is secured.”
Reigning Olympic champion Neeraj’s arch-rival, Arshad Nadeem, also had a disappointing performance, finishing tenth with a best throw of 82.75m. Nadeem has been battling injury issues recently and underwent surgery.
World Athletics Championships 2025: Men’s javelin throw final results
Rank Athlete Mark
1 Keshorn Walcott 88.16m
2 Anderson Peters 87.38m
3 Curtis Thompson 86.67m
4 Sachin Yadav 86.27m
5 Julian Weber 86.11m
6 Julius Yego 85.54m
7 Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage 84.38m
8 Neeraj Chopra 84.03m
9 Dawid Wegner 83.03m
10 Arshad Nadeem 82.75m
11 Jakub Vadlejch 78.71m
12 Cameron McEntyre 75.65m