Dream turns into nightmare as Chopra ends 8th

Tokyo: Struggling with back pain, defending champion Neeraj Chopra endured a nightmarish outing at the World Championships men’s javelin throw final to end a disappointing eighth, outperformed by debutant compatriot Sachin Yadav who logged a creditable fourth-place finish here on Thursday.Neer

On a day when no thrower managed to cross 90m, Chopra was ousted after the fifth and penultimate round with a best effort of 84.03m that left him eighth overall.

The shock result was unexpected as the Indian fans have been used to Chopra either winning a gold medal or finishing on podium for the last four years since scripting history by winning the Tokyo Olympics gold in 2021.

Chopra, who had also won a silver in the 2022 edition besides the gold in 2023, has not finished outside the top-2 since winning gold in the 2021 Tokyo Games. After that, he has either won or finished second in 24 international events.

Known for his consistency, it was inexplicable for Chopra not to even cross the 85m mark in five attempts. His worst performance before Thursday was 82.27m while winning gold at the Federation Cup in May 2024. Thursday’s result would be ranked as one of the worst in Chopra’s illustrious career.

Chopra said after the finals that he has been dealing with a back issue for the past two weeks, for which he was undergoing rehabilitation.