Neeraj Chopra’s return to the scene of his Olympic win turned into a bitter reality check on Thursday when he finished a miserable eighth in the men’s javelin at the world championships in Tokyo after quietly fighting a back issue for weeks.
Chopra, who was competing in the same arena where he won India’s first Olympic gold in 2021, was only able to throw 84.03 meters on Thursday, which was less than his qualifying score from the day before.
With a throw of 88.16 meters, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago won his first international championship since winning gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics as a teenager. Anderson Peters of Grenada and American Curtis Thompson completed the podium.
“I don’t understand what happened today. This has not happened for a long time. I had some problems before coming to Tokyo,” said Chopra, who was defending his 2023 world title.
“Two weeks ago I had some back issues but I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was thinking I would still manage to get through it. But javelin is really tough. If you are not in a good shape, you’re out. Normally it doesn’t happen with me because for a long time, I was always in top two positions. After a long time I’m not in the position, but it’s okay I will learn from today and I will try to stay healthy and try to focus on my technique.”
Chopra stated that he had an MRI after suffering a back injury on September 4 and that he has still not fully recovered.
“Maybe I need more training or to improve my technique. Maybe I just need more time for training,” Chopra added.
“But it’s life, it’s sport. I have to accept it and move on. Competing two days in a row was not a problem. It was OK because I qualified yesterday with my first throw.
“It was not too far but I was thinking it was still good, and that I could throw further today. I will go back to my room, watch the competition and check on my throws. I will work on it.”
