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Neeraj Chopra Begins Title Defense at World Athletics Championships 2025
World Championship, Neeraj Chopra, World Javelin Championship: Arshad Nadeem will face Neeraj Chopra for the first time since the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nadeem won gold at the Paris Olympics with a throw of 92.97 meters, while Neeraj Chopra settled for silver with a throw of 89.45 meters.
Neeraj Chopra will kick off his title defense of the 2025 World Athletics Championships by competing in the qualifying round of the men's javelin throw at Tokyo's National Stadium on Wednesday. The final will take place on Thursday. Neeraj Chopra's javelin throw event at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, both the qualifier and the final, will be live streamed and live telecasted in India.
Neeraj Chopra's fight against Pakistani rival Arshad Nadeem will be one of the main attractions at Tokyo 25. At the previous edition of the World Championships in Budapest two years ago, Neeraj Chopra created history by becoming India's first world champion in athletics with a throw of 88.17 meters. Arshad Nadeem won the silver medal with 87.82 meters.
The Neeraj Chopra vs. Arshad Nadeem rivalry has intensified since the Pakistani thrower prevented his Indian rival from winning a second consecutive Olympic gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Currently ranked second in the world, Neeraj Chopra is seeking his third medal at the World Championships, having previously won a silver medal in the United States three years ago.
He broke the 90-meter barrier with a national record of 90.23 meters in Doha earlier this season, but that leaves him third in the world rankings behind Julian Weber of Germany and Luiz da Silva of Brazil. In addition to the three men who threw the javelin beyond 90 meters this year, five more athletes reached this milestone last season. Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, who set an Olympic record of 92.97 meters in Paris last year, is among them.
Divided into two groups, 37 athletes will compete for 12 spots in Thursday's final. The automatic qualifying mark is 84.50 meters. The 27-year-old Indian athlete will start in Group A of the qualifiers, while Arshad Nadeem will compete in Group B. Three other Indian athletes are also in the race: Sachin Yadav (Group A), Rohit Yadav, and Yashvir Singh (Group B).
Neeraj Chopra's qualification is in Group A. The event will begin on September 17 at 3:40 PM IST. The throws for Group B will start at 5:15 PM IST.
