Neeraj Chopra’s performance raised hopes of medals, qualified for javelin throw final

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Neeraj Chopra

Tokyo: India’s star athlete Neeraj Chopra topped the Tokyo Olympics javelin throw event qualifying here on Wednesday, but his compatriot made it to the final. Shivpal Singh got out of the medal race with poor performance. Chopra, making her Olympic debut, threw the javelin to a distance of 86.65m in her first attempt and achieved an automatic qualification level of 83.50m to qualify for the finals, raising India’s medal hopes.

Chopra, a gold medalist at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Championships, chose not to make her remaining two attempts after qualifying for the finals in her first attempt. Three attempts are available in the qualification out of which the best attempt is counted. Former world junior champion Chopra finished on top of 32 players in Group A and Group B. His personal and season-best performance is 88.07m which he made at the Indian Grand Prix 3 in Patiala in March 2021. Shivpal, however, was disappointed. He managed only 76.40m in his first attempt, 74.80m in the second, and 74.81m in the third attempt and finished 12th among 16 players in Group B and 27th overall. Shivpal could not even come close to his personal best of 86.23m and season-best of 81.63m.

Germany’s Johannes Vetter (85.65m) and Finland’s Lacey Atletalo (84.50m), who finished fourth at the Rio Olympics from Group A, and Tokyo Games title contenders, also automatically finished second and third, respectively. Successfully achieved the qualification level. World number one and 2017 world champion Vetter made his third and final attempt, while Lacey made the final on his very first attempt. Atletico’s effort is his best performance of the season. Vetter had earlier said that it would be difficult for Chopra to beat him in the Olympics, but the Indian player outperformed the German in the qualification.

Neeraj Chopra

From Group B, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (85.16m), Czech Republic’s Yakub Wadlech (84.93m), and Germany’s Julian Weber (84.41m) secured the automatic qualification level. Indian Army’s Chopra’s preparations for the Olympics were hit in 2019 by an elbow injury and then the COVID-19 pandemic but he didn’t disappoint his fans at all and made it to the finals on his very first throw at the Olympics. He had competed in only three international events before the Olympics. In this, the Quarter Games was the only world-class competition where Chopra finished third while Waiter won the title.

In the javelin throw, the top 12 players, including those who achieved an automatic qualification level of 83.50 meters from Group A and Group B, made it to the finals. The finals will be held on August 7. The Indian athletics contingent, including Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adil Sumariwala and Chopra’s bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bartonitz, were present at the Olympic Stadium to cheer for the country’s players.

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