Neeraj Chopra Leads India In World Championships
Among the competing nations, India will have the most men’s javelin throwers; in addition to Chopra, three additional up-and-coming throwers were selected: Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and Rohit Yadav.
As a remarkable testament to the’revolution’ brought about by the two-time Olympic medallist’s feats on the international scene, India will have the most men’s javelin throwers among competing nations at next month’s World Championships in Tokyo, with Neeraj Chopra heading the pack of four.
India selected a 19-member team for the September 13–21 showcase, including Chopra and three other up-and-coming javelin throwers, Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and Rohit Yadav.
Following the withdrawal of competitors higher in the world rankings, Rohit, who was not originally in the 36-athlete bracket to compete in the men’s javelin throw in Tokyo, received an invitation from World Athletics.
Four Indians had qualified in the previous edition in 2023 as well, but Rohit had to withdraw because of an injury. In 2023, Chopra won gold in Budapest, Hungary, and three Indians made it to the men’s javelin finals—a record feat—while Kishore Jena and DP Manu placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Four Indians will compete in a World Championship event for the first time. Being the reigning champion allowed Chopra to enter the World Championships as a wild card, which in turn allowed three more Indians to join him.
A maximum of three athletes per nation are permitted to compete in each event; however, if one athlete qualifies as a wild card entry, the total number of competitors may reach four.
While the other three Indians qualified based on global rankings, Chopra also failed to meet the 85.50-meter direct qualification threshold.
The fact that four of our men’s javelin throwers have qualified makes me really happy. At a virtual media conference, Adille Sumariwalla, a spokesman for the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), stated, “We hope that they will all be in the finals this time as well.
There were four the last time as well, but Rohit Yadav was unable to take part due to an injury. And they were all in the top six in the finals.
Powerhouse nations Finland, Germany, and Poland have all sent three competitors each to the men’s javelin throw competition. Japan, Sri Lanka, and the Czech Republic each had two athletes who qualified.
AFI selects a 19-person squad, adding Shirse and Sandeep at the last minute.
Men’s 110-meter hurdler Tejas Shirse, men’s 35-kilometer race walker Sandeep Kumar, and Rohit are the last-minute additions to the Indian team of 19, which consists of five women. This is because World Athletics invited them after other competitors who were higher in their respective events with higher world rankings withdrew.
If an athlete breaks the qualifying mark, they are automatically eligible to compete in the World Championships. The world ranking quota is used to distribute the remaining spots in order to reach the minimum number of entries needed for each event, which is set by World Athletics.
After that, member nations notify the global organization if any of their athletes withdraw even though they made the cut, and the next-ranked athletes take the vacated spots.
For the majority of events, the qualifying deadline was August 24.
In the previous event, which took place in Hungary in 2023, India contributed 28 athletes, including seven relay racers. The nation was not eligible for any relay events this time.
Chopra is the only Indian with a genuine opportunity to take the podium this time, same like in 2023.
Despite qualifying through the world ranking, men’s 20-kilometer race walker Akshdeep Singh was not named because he is not medically fit, while heptathlete Nandini Agasara, who also made the cut because she is the Asian champion, is still recovering from an elbow ailment, according to a previous PTI report.
Avinash Sable, a star 3000m steeplechaser, qualified by missing the automatic qualification threshold, but he will not be able to compete because he had ACL surgery in July.
Sumariwalla stated, “Sable, Akshdeep, and Nandini are not on the team because they are not medically fit.”
Gulveer, who broke the qualifying mark and qualified immediately
for the men’s 5,000-meter race, was also invited to the 10,000-meter event.
Pooja, the second Indian to compete in two events, received an invitation to the women’s 800m after qualifying for the 1500m based on world rankings.
Sreeshankar, who qualified for the 2024 Olympics but missed it because of knee surgery, placed last out of 36 long jumpers scheduled to compete in Tokyo.
Sreeshankar has won five straight events since he resumed racing in July. His best distance was 8.13 meters, and on August 10, he took home the gold at the World Athletics Continental Tour bronze-level event in Bhubaneswar. However, he was unable to surpass the 8.27-meter automatic qualifying standard.
Animesh Kujur, who holds the national record for Odisha, will be the first Indian to compete in the 200-meter event at the World Championships.
Indian group:
Men: Sarvesh Anil Kushare (men’s high jump), Animesh Kujur (men’s 200m), Tejas Shirse (men’s 110m hurdles), Murali Sreeshankar (men’s long jump), Gulveer Singh (men’s 5,000m and 10,000m), Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, and Rohit Yadav (men’s javelin), Servin Sebastian (men’s 20km race walk), Ram Baboo and Sandeep Kumar (men’s 35km race walk).
Women: Priyanka Goswami (35km race walk), Annu Rani (javelin), Parul Chaudhary and Ankita Dhyani (women’s 3000m steeplechase), and Pooja (women’s 800m and 1500m).
