A ONE-AND-DONE season best opener of 291-3 (88.77) in qualifying — well past the auto-Q of 272-3 (83.00) — wasted no time for India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra en route to the final and underscoring his status as formchart No. 1. The other autos numbered only two, with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem at 284-9 (86.79) and formchart No. 2 Jakub Vadlejch, 273-11 (83.50), making the grade.
The final also included Germany’s European champion Julian Weber (formchart No. 3), Finland’s Oliver Helander (formchart No. 6), Lithuania’s Edis Matusevičius and two of Chopra’s teammates, D. Prakasha Manu and Kishore Jena.
Notably absent from the final were Kenya’s ’15 champion Julius Yego and Grenada’s ’19 & ‘22 victor Anderson Peters (formchart No. 5), as well as Trinidad’s ’12 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (formchart No. 4), who did not start.
No noteworthy throws came from round 1, as Chopra fouled and Helander topped the chart with 273-6 (83.38).
In round 2, Vadlejch took the lead with a respectable 276-2 (84.18). He barely had time to sit down before Chopra unleashed 289-3 (88.17) to set the tone. Weber responded with 281-5 (85.79) to replace Vadlejch in 2nd.
In the third stanza Chopra, Weber and Vadlejch did not improve, but Nadeem did, as his 288-1 (87.82) moved him closer to the lead and securely into 2nd.
There were no changes in round 4, but Nadeem maintained his strong hold on silver with an impressive 285-11 (87.15).
In round 5, Jena moved from 7th to 5th with his 278-1 (84.77), but Vadlejch swapped places with Weber after throwing 284-4 (86.67) to reach the bronze position.
The chasers did their best, but no one could top Chopra, who redeemed himself after his runner-up finish at Oregon22.
The victor relayed his simple objective, saying “I had thought about hitting the 90-meter mark in between, but I now feel that it’s more important to win a medal.”
Chopra understands his status as an icon in athletics, where, next to Usain Bolt, he has the most social media followers (6 million-plus) of anyone in the world of track & field.
He said, “It’s a very special feeling to have won the Olympics and the World Championships. Competition-wise, the World Championships is always tougher than the Olympics. Athletes train very hard for this. I am most happy about the fact that I won today, and two more Indians were with me. I’m very happy to see how Indian athletics is growing.”
Chopra’s victory magnified the significant progress Asian javelin throwers have made in recent years. Here in Budapest, the continent produced the world champion, the runner-up and the 5th- and 6th-placers.
Chopra feels he still has room for improvement, saying “As they say, throwers don’t have a finish line. No matter how many medals you win, there will always be the motivation that you can throw further.”
MEN’S JAVELIN RESULTS
FINAL (August 27)
1. Neeraj Chopra (Ind) 289-3 (88.17)
(f, 289-3, 283-2, 277-8, 287-10, 275-6) (f, 88.17, 86.32, 84.64, 87.73, 83.98);
2. Arshad Nadeem (Pak) 288-1 (87.82)
(245-5, 271-8, 288-1, 285-11, f, 268-7) (74.80, 82.81, 87.82, 87.15, f, 81.86);
3. Jakub Vadlejch (CzR) 284-4 (86.67)
(270-11, 276-2, 274-5, 274-4, 284-4, f) (82.59, 84.18, 83.65, 83.62, 86.67, f);
4. Julian Weber (Ger) 281-5 (85.79)
(263-10, 281-5, 252-2, 270-10, 271-8, 259-2) (80.43, 85.79, 76.86, 82.55, 82.81, 79.01);
5. Kishore Kumar Jena (Ind) 278-1 (84.77) PR
(248-4, 271-9, f, 263-1, 278-1, f) (75.70, 82.82, f, 80.19, 84.77, f);
6. D. Prakasha Manu (Ind) 276-0 (84.14)
(257-4, f, 274-8, f, 273-11, 276-0) (78.44, f, 83.72, f, 83.48, 84.14);
7. Oliver Helander (Fin) 273-7 (83.38)
(273-7, 267-2, f, f, f, 271-10) (83.38, 81.44, f, f, f, 82.85);
8. Edis Matusevičius (Lit) 269-11 (82.29)
(246-6, 263-10, 269-11, 259-9, f, 254-4) (75.13, 80.42, 82.29, 79.17, f, 77.53);
9. Dawid Wegner (Pol) 264-11 (80.75)
(256-6, 244-9, 264-11) (78.19, 74.60, 80.75);
10. Ihab Abdelrahman (Egy) 264-7 (80.64)
(264-7, 259-0, f) (80.64, 78.94, f);
11. Andrian Mardare (Mol) 261-4 (79.66)
(261-4, 260-0, 260-9) (79.66, 79.24, 79.49);
12. Timothy Herman (Bel) 244-7 (74.56)
(236-9, 244-7, f) (72.17, 74.56, f).
| * = progression of the leading throw; ¶ = athlete’s best of the day | |||
| first 3 rounds | |||
| Helander | 83.38*¶ | 81.44 | f |
| Vadlejch | 82.59 | 84.18* | 83.65 |
| Wegner | 78.19 | 74.60 | 80.75¶ |
| Chopra | f | 88.17*¶ | 86.32 |
| Mardare | 79.66¶ | 79.24 | 79.49 |
| Abdelrahman | 80.64¶ | 78.94 | f |
| Nadeem | 74.80 | 82.81 | 87.82¶ |
| Manu | 78.44 | f | 83.72 |
| Matusevičius | 75.13 | 80.42 | 82.29¶ |
| Weber | 80.43 | 85.79¶ | 76.86 |
| Jena | 75.70 | 82.82 | f |
| Herman | 72.17 | 74.56¶ | f |
| rounds 4 & 5 | |||
| Matusevičius | 79.17 | f | |
| Jena | 80.19 | 84.77¶ | |
| Helander | f | f | |
| Manu | f | 83.48 | |
| Vadlejch | 83.62 | 86.67¶ | |
| Weber | 82.55 | 82.81 | |
| Nadeem | 87.15 | f | |
| Chopra | 84.64 | 87.73 | |
| last round | |||
| Matusevičius | 77.53 | ||
| Jena | f | ||
| Helander | 82.85 | ||
| Manu | 84.14¶ | ||
| Weber | 79.01 | ||
| Vadlejch | f | ||
| Nadeem | 81.86 | ||
| Chopra | 83.98 | ||
QUALIFYING (August 25)
(auto-qualifier 272-4/83.00)
Qualifiers: Chopra 291-3 (88.77), Nadeem 284-9 (86.79), Vadlejch 273-11 (83.50), Weber 270-3 (82.39), Matusevičius 270-2 (82.35), Manu 266-9 (81.31), Wegner 266-7 (81.25), Abdelrahman 264-11 (80.75), Jena 264-3 (80.55), Helander 263-1 (80.19), Herman 262-10 (80.11), Mardare 261-9 (79.78);
Non-Qualifiers: Toni Kuusela (Fin) 260-1 (79.27), Genki Dean (Jpn) 259-10 (79.21), Cyprian Mrzygłód (Pol) & Anderson Peters (Grn) 257-6 (78.49), Julius Yego (Ken) 257-3 (78.42), Lassi Etelätalo (Fin) 256-6 (78.19), Cameron McEntyre (Aus) 256-3 (78.10), Luiz Da Silva (Bra) 254-11 (77.70), Patriks Gailums (Lat) 254-0 (77.43), Kenji Ogura (Jpn) 251-5 (76.65), György Herczeg (Hun) 249-11 (76.18), Capers Williamson (US) 249-8 (76.10), Alexandru Novac (Rom) 248-6 (75.75), Jakob Samuelsson (Swe) 247-8 (75.50), Douw Smit (SA) 246-2 (75.03), Felise Vahai Sosaia (Fra) 245-5 (74.80), Rolands Štrobinders (Lat) 244-3 (74.46), Curtis Thompson (US) 243-5 (74.21), Leandro Ramos (Por) 242-10 (74.03), Artur Felfner (Ukr) 242-7 (73.94), Gatis Čakšs (Lat) 240-10 (73.42), Pedro Henrique Rodrigues (Bra) 237-4 (72.34);… 3f—Ethan Dabbs (US), Yuta Sakiyama (Jpn).
