Neeraj Chopra's Big Revelation On Reason Behind Not Winning A Medal At World Athletics Championship

Neeraj Chopra made consistency his hallmark over the last few years. In fact, since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he has finished in the top two of every competition he took part in. That streak ended on Thursday. Neeraj Chopra endured a nightmarish outing at the World Championships men's javelin throw final, finishing a disappointing eighth - outperformed by debutant compatriot Sachin Yadav, who logged a personal best to finish a creditable fourth in Tokyo.

Chopra, who had also won silver at the 2022 edition of the World Championships, in addition to gold in 2023, had either won or finished second in 24 international events since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

On a day when no thrower managed to cross the 90m mark, Chopra was ousted after the fifth and penultimate round, with a best effort of 84.03m - leaving him eighth overall. The shock result was unexpected, as Indian fans have grown used to Chopra either winning gold or finishing on the podium over the last four years since scripting history with his Olympic gold in Tokyo.

"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 when we were training in Czech Republic, some people knew, I had some back issues. I was thinking I would still manage to get through it. But javelin is really tough. If you are not in good shape, you're out," Neeraj was quoted as saying by World Athletics.

"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. But it's life, it's sport. I have to accept it and move on. Competing two days in a row was not a problem. It was OK because I qualified yesterday with my first throw. It was not too far, but I was thinking it was still good, and that I could throw further today. I will go back to my room, watch the competition, and check on my throws. I will work on it."

It was inexplicable for Chopra not to even cross the 85m mark in five attempts. His worst performance before Thursday was 82.27m while winning gold at the Federation Cup in May 2024. Thursday's result would rank as one of the lowest points in Chopra's illustrious career.

Ironically, all five of Sachin's legal throws were better than Chopra's best of 84.03m.

The gold went to Keshorn Walcott (88.16m) of Trinidad and Tobago, followed by Grenada's Anderson Peters (87.38m) and Curtis Thompson (86.67m). Sachin finished fourth with his first-round effort of 86.27m.

Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, a silver medallist in the previous edition of the World Championships, was among the first set of throwers to exit in the fourth round, with a best of 82.75m.