Neeraj Chopra has set his sights on becoming only the third men's javelin thrower in history to defend the World Athletics Championships gold as he carries the country's weight of expectations on his shoulders as the only medal prospect from India in the athletics showpiece beginning on Saturday.
Chopra had won gold in the 2023 edition in Budapest with a throw of 88.17m, while Pakistan's reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem (87.82m) and Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) had secured silver and bronze, respectively.
If the two-time Olympic medallist Indian wins gold on September 18, the day of the finals, he will become the third man to win two consecutive World Championships javelin titles.
Legendary Czech thrower Jan Zelezny (1993 and 1995), who is here with Chopra as his coach, and Anderson Peters (2019 and 2022) of Grenada are the other two who have so far won back-to-back world championships crown.
Also read: Neeraj Chopra wins NC Classic with 86.18m throw
Chopra, who is leading a 19-member Indian team as the lone medal contender, will face Nadeem for the first time in more than a year after the 2024 Paris Olympics, giving him a chance to avenge his second-place finish in Paris.
It will not, however, be easy for 27-year-old Chopra to clinch the gold in a blockbuster field in Tokyo, though it's the same arena where he won the Olympic gold to script history in 2021. The world's javelin royalty will be in action, including Nadeem and newly-crowned Diamond League champion Julian Weber of Germany.
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The likes of Peters, Kenya's 2015 world champion Julius Yego, 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, veteran Vadlejch as well as Brazil's Luiz da Silva, who went past 90m mark with a 91m throw last month, will also be in action. The qualifying round of men's javelin will be held on September 17.
Based on current form, Weber starts as favourite. The 31-year-old German has sent the spear to 90m-plus distances three times this season. He is the world leader with 91.51m and his confidence is high after winning the Diamond League trophy last month.
The season saw Chopra breach the coveted 90m mark during the Doha Diamond League in May, but it also saw the Indian superstar logging some mediocre distances. He had failed to breach 85m in two competitions, went past a little over 85m on two occasions and had a 86m-plus effort in another event. His second best throw this year was 88.16m.
In head-to-head against Weber this season, Chopra trailed 1-3, the last meeting being the Diamond League Final in August where the Indian could only come up with 85.01m for a second-place finish.
Three other javelin throwers in fray
Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav are also in the fray as India is being represented by four athletes in men's javelin, the most among competing countries in the event. Chopra has been handed wild card as defending champion, while the other three qualified through world rankings.
Men's javelin is one event which the Indian athletics fans will be following the most after the impressive show in the last edition. Three Indians had made it to the final round in 2023 in Budapest. Besides Chopra's gold, Kishore Jena and DP Manu had finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Annu Rani (women's javelin throw), Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase), Murali Sreeshankar (men's long jump), Gulveer Singh (men's 5000m) and Praveen Chithravel (men's triple jump) would also look to reach the final rounds.
Indian action will begin on Saturday in the men's and women's 35km race walk events. Ram Baboo and Sandeep Kumar will compete in the men's 35km race walk, while Priyanka Goswami will feature in the women's event early in the morning. In the evening session, Pooja will run her 1500m heat race.
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