IMAGE: This will be the second time Neeraj Chopra will compete at the seniors World Athletics Championships. Photograph: Neeraj Chopra/Twitter
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra sets his sights on another World title when be begins his campaign at the World Championships qualifiers in Eugene, Oregon, USA, on Thursday.
The 24-year-old javelin thrower is pooled in Group A of the javelin throw qualifications, which kick off at 5.35 am IST on Friday morning. He will be the first to hurl the spear in the order of athletes in the qualifiers.
A total of 32 javelin throwers will compete in the two qualifying groups. From there, the 12 best will qualify for Saturday’s final.
With the distance for automatic qualification set at 83.50m, Chopra is expected to make the final without much fuss.
This will be the second time Chopra will be competing at the seniors World Athletics Championships.
At the 2017 world championships in London, Chopra recorded an 82.26m throw and failed to qualify for the final. Chopra was forced to sit out the 2019 world championships due to elbow surgery.
Chopra had set a new national record of 89.94m, just 6cm shy of the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of the javelin throw, at the prestigious Diamond League in Stockholm last month en route to a silver medal.
He finished second behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who recorded a best throw of 90.31m.
A strong field awaits Chopra with the likes of Peters, Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, Finland’s Oliver Helander and the German duo of Julian Weber and Johannes Vetter in the mix, all vying for top honours.
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