Javelin Star Sachin Yadav Won't Compete At World Athletics Ultimate Championships Even If He Qualifies. Here's Why
Top Indian javelin thrower Sachin Yadav has undergone surgery on his right elbow which will force him out of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest next week despite being currently listed in the qualifying bracket.
Top Indian javelin thrower Sachin Yadav has undergone surgery on his right elbow which will force him out of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest next week despite being currently listed in the qualifying bracket. The top eight in the 'Road to the Ultimate' list of the World Athletics will compete in the season-ending event to be held in the Hungarian capital from September 11-13. Yadav is currently listed at the eighth spot. The eighth spot, however, can go to the Diamond League Finals winner in Brussels on Saturday, provided he has not qualified by virtue of being in the top seven.
But six of the Diamond League Finals competitors are in the top seven of the 'Road to the Ultimate' rankings list and a win by any of them in Brussels will not change the chart.
Only a win by Dawid Wegner of Poland in the Diamond League Finals in Brussels can push Yadav down, which is highly unlikely. Wegner has a personal best of 85.67m and his best achievement in a global event has been a third place finish in the Zurich leg of the Diamond League last month.
The inaugural Ultimate Championship will pit Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League winners against one another in an ambitious project of World Athletics.
It will be a biennial event to provide a season-ending championship in years when there is no outdoor World Championships.
The total prize purse this year will be USD 10 million, with gold medallists winning USD 150,000.
Yadav, who finished a creditable fourth in the World Championships last year, said he is undergoing rehabilitation after going under the knife in July.
"I underwent surgery elbow surgery two months back and my season is over. I am not taking part in the World Athletics Ultimate Championships," Yadav, who has a personal best of 86.27m, told PTI.
"I did the surgery in Delhi and I am undergoing rehabilitation. I am hoping to be all right for next season," he added.
He picked up the injury during training earlier this year. However, he continued taking part in competitions, which might have aggravated his injury.
The 26-year-old began the season at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi, finishing second with 81.95m. He then disappointed at the Federation Cup in May, finishing fifth with 79.07m effort, before making his Diamond League debut in June in Rome where he ended at eighth with 79.18m.
Yadav competed at the National Inter-State Championships in June as it was the selection trial event for the upcoming Asian Games, but finished third with 82.32m.
He was not selected for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and also for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan.
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