On Tuesday, Neeraj Chopra kicked off his title defence with a massive throw in the qualification round of the men’s javelin event at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Leading Group B in the qualification phase, Chopra achieved his personal best with a throw of 89.34m in his first attempt. India’s golden boy has entered the final of the men’s javelin event.
The reigning Olympic and world champion touched down in Paris with a season-best throw of 88.36m at the Doha Diamond League. Neeraj unlocked the national record with his throw of 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League back in 2022. The javelin superstar has fired his spear below the 85m mark twice since striking gold for India at the Tokyo Olympics.
India’s Kishore Jena was in Group A while Neeraj launched his gold medal bid from Group B on Day 11 of the Summer Games in Paris. Jena punched his tickets for the men’s javelin event at Paris with his throw of 87.54m at the Asian Games last year.
However, Jena has failed to cross the 87m mark after earning an automatic berth for the Paris Games. Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch, Germany’s Julian Weber, former world champion Anderson Peters and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem are Neeraj’s top rivals at the Paris Olympics.
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