World Athletics: Did a back niggle hamper Neeraj Chopra's campaign?

It was at the same National Stadium in Tokyo four years ago that Neeraj Chopra scripted history by giving India its first Olympic medal in athletics, a gold no less. Expectations were naturally sky-high about the Indian ace defending his world champion’s tag on Thursday night, but a phenomenal run came to a halt with an eighth-place finish.

There is shock and awe writ large across social media but then, that’s because of the high benchmark the javelin ace had set for himself over four years. Just ponder this: it’s only the first time since 2021 that Neeraj finished outside top two in any major competition and it’s been seven years — since he announced his arrival with an Asian Games gold in 2018 — that he missed out on a podium finish.

Like all good things, the hot streak of India’s best ever athlete had to end sometime, but the javelin final also highlighted the intensity of top-flight competitions. The rainy night produced a series of upsets as all the hype around a potential face-off between Neeraj and Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem lay in tatters after the first three rounds itself. While Neeraj’s best throw of 84.03 m could not even match up to his qualifying effort of 84.85 m, Nadeem could only finish in tenth spot.

A surprise package for India, in fact, was young Sachin Yadav, the 23-year-old who was unaffected by the jitters of a first final appearance in a major championship. TV pundits were impressed by his consistency as he sent the javelin sailing over 85 m thrice, with a personal best of 86.27 m propelling him to fourth place. Interestingly, India was the only country with two competitors in the final of the demanding event, eventually won by Trinidad & Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott.

The Caribbean athlete’s success story was a fascinating one as it was his second gold in either Olympics or the Worlds, but at a gap of 13 years — he became an Olympic gold medallist at 19 in London 2012. Julian Weber, the in-form thrower and pre-tournament favourite, finished fifth.

Incidentally, Neeraj looked in good rhythm in the qualifying only a day earlier — not pushing himself beyond one throw with the final scheduled on back-to-back days. However, he struggled throughout Thursday as he managed only three legal throws — looking visibly frustrated as he was eliminated before the final set of throws.

Speaking to World Athletics media, Neeraj revealed later: “I don’t understand what happened today. This has not happened for a long time. I had some problems before coming to Tokyo. Two weeks ago, I had some back issues but I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was thinking I would still manage to get through it.

"But javelin is really tough. If you are not in a good shape, you’re out. It’s OK. I will learn from today. Maybe I need more training or to improve my technique. Maybe I just need more time for training.”

Who is Sachin Yadav?

The emergence of Sachin, meanwhile, aroused a lot of curiosity about the new kid on the block on India’s javelin horizon. His arrival certainly is a pointer to India’s growing strength in the sport under the umbrella of Neeraj, with the Asian Games coming up next year.  

Born in Khekra, Uttar Pradesh on 25 October 1999, Sachin initially wanted to be a cricketer until he transitioned to javelin when he was 19. Sachin won a silver medal at the 2025 Asian Championships while earlier this year, he won gold at the 38th National Games in Dehradun with a meet record of 84.39 m, then his personal best.

He narrowly missed the podium at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic meet, finishing fourth with a throw of 82.33 m. In Tokyo, he was grouped with Neeraj and had a winding route to the final. He began with a modest 80.16 m but steadied himself to close with 83.67 m, finishing 10th overall, to make the 12-man cut.