Neeraj Chopra Finish First In Qualification Round: Neeraj Chopra has arrived at the 2024 Paris Olympics in style, with a statement throw of 89.34 m in the qualification of the men’s javelin event. The Indian superstar has now made it to the final with the longest throw in the qualifying round.
Neeraj came into the 2024 Olympics as arguably the biggest star of the Indian contingent. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he won India’s first medal in athletics—that too a gold—and helped make those Olympics the most successful in Indian history.
The automatic final qualification mark was 84 m; anybody who threw over that would qualify for the final despite their position in their group. Each athlete would get three chances to throw, with the best attempt being counted as their score.
Group A saw Germany’s Julian Weber throw 87.76 m. Four men crossed the 84-meter mark in that group. India’s Kishore Jena, who won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games behind Neeraj, had a disappointing outing and came ninth with a throw of 80.73 m. Although he was still in the race as 12 men would make it to the final.
Neeraj Chopra Finish First In Qualification Round
Neeraj Chopra had the first throw of Group B, and he stepped up big time, chucking a monstrous 89.34m throw to automatically qualify for the final before anyone else got a chance to throw.
This was also Neeraj’s season-best, which was previously 88.36 m. Besting one’s season-best in the first throw of the competition is a sign of something great. And with the best throw in qualification, Chopra will go into the final as the favourite to complete a two-peat of Olympic golds.
But there were several athletes who also had a great outing and will make the final an interesting watch. Several throwers in this competition have had the wanted 90-meter personal beat, which Neeraj does not. The Indian’s PB is 89.94. But it is his incredible consistency that makes him one of the best athletes in the world.
Other gold medal contenders will be Jakub Vadlejch, who threw an 85.63 in the qualification, has a PB of 90.88, and had the best SB under his belt before the Olympics of 88.36 m. Anderson Peters of Grenada had the second-best throw in the qualification with 88.63 m. While this is his SB, his PB is the highest in this competition with a staggering 93.07 m.
Another man who will be looking to win his first Olympic medal and the first medal for his country is Arshad Nadeem, who threw his season best of 86.59 m in the qualification round. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games (which Neeraj Chopra missed), Arshad threw his PB of 90.18m and will be among the favourites in the final.
The final of the men’s javelin throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place on Thursday, August 8 at 11:55 pm.
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