Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Olympics 2024: Neeraj Chopra Spearheads Into Finale With Season Best Throw

Chopra is probably India's only hope of an Olympic gold medal in 2024

Neeraj Chopra does it again! India's golden boy has entered the finale of the men's javelin event with a season-best massive throw of 89.34 metres. By doing so, in his very attempt, he entered the tournament's finale. Not to forget, his throw is the longest recorded this season so far. On August 8, the reigning Olympics and World Champion will throw again to defend his gold medal.

Tough battle ahead

Neeraj made his throw look like a walk in the park, but the finale could be a different ball game. After all, PAK's Arshad Nadeem has also entered the final with a throw of 86.59 metres. Although far away from Neeraj, Arshad has the potential to cause an upset who has constantly followed Chopra everywhere. For the record, the two athletes have a great relationship off the field. In fact, during the Tokyo Olympics, Arshad even used Neeraj's javelin to practice.

Two other athletes pose a threat to Neeraj Chopra's gold in the final. First up is Germany's Julian Weber, known as the country's Mr. Consistent. In Tokyo, he finished fourth, but since then, he has become the world champion in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, Weber took part in five events, and not once did he register a throw below 85 metres.

Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic is another thrower who has threatened Chopra on multiple occasions. In the European Championship this year, Jakub grabbed a gold and another gold a year ago in the 2023 Diamond League. Even in the 2023 world championship, he snatched a bronze.

In a nutshell, both Jakub and Webber have been in contention for a medal in the Olympics, but Neeraj Chopra has turned out to be their hurdle.

Neeraj's dominance

Despite tough competition from all quarters, Neeraj's form has not witnessed a dip since the Tokyo Olympics. The Haryana-born javelin thrower has consistently grabbed medals in the last three years. In July 2022, at the World Athletics Championships, Neeraj settled for a silver by making a throw of 88.13 meters. Two months later, at the Diamond League Final, Chopra covered 88.44 meters and earned a gold.

In 2023, the World Athletics Championships in Budapest witnessed him making a throw of 88.17 meters to grab another grow. Chopra missed on gold due to a minor dip in form but grabbed silver by throwing 83.80 meters in the Diamond League 2023. Chopra ended 2023 with another gold in the Asian Games.

There is no doubt that expectations from Chopra are high, and he alone is carrying the burden of India's entire Olympic contingent. Unfortunately for Chopra's teammate, Kishore Jenna, the tournament is over as he failed to make it into the finale with a throw of 80.73.

The Olympic Games 2024 men's javelin final will occur on August 8 at 11:55 p.m. Indian Standard Time.