The 24-year-old Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra reached the final of the World Athletics Championships 2022 (in Eugene, Oregon) after a strong performance. Another Indian Rohit Yadav also advanced to the final of this event.
The Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Neeraj Chopra qualified for the final of the men’s javelin throw event of the 18th World Athletics Championships after his first attempt in the qualification round managed the stunning mark of 88.39 meters. It was the third-best throw in his career.
Only Grenadian Anderson Peters, the present top-ranked men’s javelin thrower, managed a better mark in that event, as his first throw in that qualification round had a score of 89.91 meters.
Neeraj Chopra: I’ll give my 100% in the final
Neeraj is now completely focused on the final of this competition as he wants to give his best in that event. The men’s javelin throw final of the World Athletics Championships 2022 has been scheduled for this Saturday (23rd July).
Neeraj said after his impressive qualification round, “It was a good start. I’ll give my 100% in the final. We’ll see. Every day is different. I’ll just give my best. We don’t know who can throw far on any given day. There is a little bit of zigzag in my run-up. I shook a little bit, but it was a good throw. There are so many throwers in good shape now. Five-six throwers have thrown PBs this year. They are all in excellent shape.”
Rohit Yadav stunned
In the meantime, playing his first senior-level international event, Rohit Yadav has joined Neeraj for the medal round of the javelin throw of the World Athletics Championships 2022. While the top 12 players qualified for the final of this event, Rohit managed to earn the 11th spot with his best first throw of 80.42 meters.
Annu Rani already advanced to the final of the women’s javelin throw
On the previous day, Indian Annu Rani qualified for the final of the women’s javelin throw event of the World Athletics Championships 2022. She earned an eighth place among the top 12 finalists in that qualification round after her third throw of the day flew to 59.60 meters.