Ahead Of CWG 2026 Athletics, Indian Coach Gives Big Update On Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj Chopra, who won gold in the 2018 Games in Gold Coast in Australia with a throw of 86.47m, missed the 2022 edition due to an injury.
India's javelin ace Neeraj Chopra is in "perfect physical shape" ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair said on Friday, expressing confidence that the country will better its medal haul from the 2022 edition. Chopra, who won gold in the 2018 Games in Gold Coast in Australia with a throw of 86.47m, missed the 2022 edition due to an injury. He sustained a lower back injury just before the World Championships in September 2025 and he has competed in just one event this season in the Doha Diamond League where he finished fourth with a throw of 85.69m in June.
"Chopra is in perfect shape physically. I have not seen him so good in a long time. He is very confident and we can expect a very good performance from him," Nair told PTI.
"I need not tell you the colour of the medal but he is very confident of doing his best." Chopra reached Glasgow on Friday.
It will be a tough fight for the gold as Chopra will be up against the likes of Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka, Anderson Peters of Grenada and Pakistan's defending champion and Olympic gold winner Arshad Nadeem will also be in fray. India's Rohit Yadav, who hurled his spear to 87.05m last month, will also be in medal contention if he repeats his performance.
The men's javelin throw qualifying round will be on July 30 and the final will be held the next day. Nair said the 32-member Indian team will win more medals (1 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze) than the eight won in the 2022 Birmingham Games. He also said that the team will win more gold medals than in Birmingham.
"We will do better than in Birmingham and win more medals this time. Moreover, we are hoping to win two or three gold medals though I can't tell from which events we will do it," Nair said.
If India wins three gold medals, that will set a record as the country has won two yellow metals at best till now -- in the 2010 CWG in Delhi. In Birmingham, triple jumper Eldhose Paul was the lone gold winner, but he is not in the team this time as he is currently under rehabilitation after undergoing surgery for an injury.
"We have two javelin throwers in medal contention, two long jumpers who can do above 8.20m, two triple jumpers wo can do more than 17m. We also have a high jumper who recently did above 2.30m.
"Gulveer Singh in long distance and Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase) are also there, among other athletes. So all in all, we are expecting more medals this time than in 2022." Tejaswin Shankar could also be in medal contention in decathlon.
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