Chopra loses his crown

In a major heartbreak for India, javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra failed to defend his title in the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday.

Chopra did not look confident from the outset after he registered a below par effort of 83.65 metres to start the competition in fifth place. As attempts started to mount, the two-time Olympics medallist — gold in Tokyo and silver in Paris — slid to eighth position.

Although he did improve slightly to register 84.03m with his second attempt, his chances of making into the medal positions seemed bleak. With his final three attempts, the 27-year-old registered two foul throws and the sole valid attempt of 82.86m did not improve his position and he was eliminated before the last round of throws.

The eighth-place finish ended Chopra’s impressive run where he had finished in the top-2 in 25 competitions.

Reigning Olympics champion Arshad Nadeem suffered a similar fate as he finished 10th and was eliminated a round earlier. Nadeem registered two foul throws in his quota of four, registering a best throw of 82.75m. The final was conducted under the new format where the 12-man field starts to thin from the third round with the last two in the rankings getting eliminated after every attempt.

The gold medal was won by Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago as he registered a season’s best mark of 88.16m. The 2012 London Olympics champion went into the lead after his second attempt of 87.83m and then bettered it to 88.16m to win his first ever World Championships gold medal. The silver medal was bagged by two-time world champion and Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada after he registered a throw of 87.38m.

While there was disappointment because of Chopra’s result, Sachin Yadav finished a creditable fourth in his debut appearance. In fact, the 25-year-old was in third place after his first attempt of 86.27m, a personal best mark in his young career. He eventually finished outside the medal bracket as he could not better American Curtis Thomson’s mark of 86.67m.

Battling back injury

Neeraj Chopra’s return to the site of his Olympics triumph turned into a painful reality check as he finished a dismal eighth in the men’s javelin after secretly battling a back injury for weeks. “I don’t understand what happened today. This has not happened for a long time. I had some problems before coming to Tokyo,” said Chopra.

“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. Normally it doesn’t happen with me because for a long time, I was always in top two positions. After a long time I’m not in the position, but it’s okay I will learn from today and I will try to stay healthy and try to focus on my technique.”

Chopra said he hurt his back on September 4 and then had an MRI scan, adding that he was not at 100%. “Maybe I need more training or to improve my technique. Maybe I just need more time for training,” Chopra said. “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.” reuters