Neeraj Chopra, Arshad Nadeem crash out of World Athletics Championships final

India versus Pakistan rivalry post Pahalgam failed to kick off at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as both the reigning Olympic Champion Arshad Nadeem and defending World Champion Neeraj Chopra were eliminated from the javelin final on Thursday.

Nadeem registered two foul throws in his quota of four, registering a best throw of 82.75 metres to finish tenth in the final.

Neeraj finished eighth after registering a foul throw in the penultimate round of the final. His best throw of 84.03 metres came in his second attempt.

Chopra was outperformed by debutant compatriot Sachin Yadav who logged a personal best performance to finish a creditable fourth.

Yadav’s best throw of 86.27m, which came in the very first attempt, was a personal best performance and he bested not just Chopra but also German star Julian Weber (86.11m), and Nadeem among others.

The gold went to Keshorn Walcott (88.16m) of Trinidad and Tobago, followed Grenada's Anderson Peters (87.38m) and Curtis Thompson (86.67m).

The tournament rules stipulate that the 12-man field starts to thin from the third round where the last two in the rankings get eliminated after every attempt.

The fans were looking forward as to how Chopra and Nadeem would behave on the track and field, coming days after the handshake controversy where the Indian cricket team refused a customary handshake with the Pakistan team after their convincing seven-wicket win last Sunday.

The relationship between these two javelin stars have always been respectful, but post Pahalgam attack, that warmth was lost.

At the Doha Diamond League Neeraj had confessed that the tensions between the nations did change the nature of their friendship.

“I want to clarify that I do not have a particularly strong relationship with Nadeem. We were never really close friends but because of the current situation, things will not be the same as they were. Having said that, if someone speaks to me with respect, I always respond,” Neeraj had said then.

Arshad responded by saying he supports his Army. “I don't want to make any comments about Neeraj because of the ongoing conflict with India. I come from a village, and I will only say that my family and I will always stand with our Army,” he said.

'Arshad is our child too'

However, things were never this frosty between them. Neeraj’s mother Saroj Devi called Arshad his son after he pipped Neeraj for the gold medal at last year’s Paris Olympics.

“We are very happy with the silver, the one who got gold is also our child and the one who got silver is also our child. All are athletes, all work hard. Nadeem is also good, he plays well. There is no difference between Neeraj and Nadeem. We got gold and silver, there is no difference for us,” she had told the reporters after the javelin final.

A year later Neeraj was heavily criticised for extending the invitation to Arshad in the aftermath of Pahalgam attack for the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in May this year. The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist had to issue a statement amidst online abuse.

“I usually am a man of few words, but that doesn't mean I will not speak up against what I think is wrong. More so when it comes to questioning my love for our country, and the respect and honour of my family. There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse,” he wrote on X.

“They haven't even left my family out of it. The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another - nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events. Invites had gone out to all athletes on Monday, two days before the terrorist attacks at Pahalgam,” he added.

Subsequently, Arshad declined the invitation.