Neeraj Chopra CWG Javelin Throw Qualification LIVE: Indian star looks to book place in final
3 min readJul 30, 2026 02:59 PM IST
Neeraj Chopra will be in action for India in the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, aiming to qualify for the medal round on Friday. Alongside Neeraj, India have two more athletes in Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh in the fray.
All three will be up against reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka in a marquee men’s javelin clash as India seek to better last edition’s medal haul in Commonwealth Games athletics events.
A lower back injury has been troubling Chopra since September 2025 and he made a delayed start to the season at Doha Diamond League on June 19. He finished fourth with a throw of 85.69m — a modest one by his high standards.
With another round of rehabilitation and training for a month at his training base in Bienne in Switzerland, the 28-year-old two-time Olympic medallist Indian superstar would be looking to repeat his gold-winning performance at 2018 Gold Coast CWG. He reached here on Friday from Switzerland.
Chopra had won gold in Gold Coast with a throw of 86.47m. He missed the 2022 Games due to an injury.
Indian athletics head coach Radhakrishnan Nair, who is expecting the 32-member team to better last edition’s eight-medal haul, said Chopra is in “perfect physical shape”.
It will, however, be a tough fight for the gold for Chopra in a star-studded field. The men’s javelin qualifying round will be on July 30 and the final the next day.
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Except for the likes of Curtis Thompson of USA and Julian Weber of Germany, all the global javelin top stars will be in action in Glasgow.
Besides Chopra, Nadeem and Pathirage, the other competitors include reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, 2022 CWG silver winner Anderson Peters of Grenada and Julius Yego of Kenya.
In the mix will be India’s , who, in fact, is in the second spot among Commonwealth season leaders with his 87.05m last month. He is also a medal contender. is the third Indian in the fray.
Pathirage will start as favourite for gold as he is the lone 90m-plus thrower in the world this season with his 92.62m while winning Rome Diamond League title. The 23-year-old has another three 88m-plus throws and won two DL titles this season.
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Nadeem, though, has been struggling for some time, and he is entering the Games with an extremely poor 78.47m effort at Luzern, Switzerland, on July 16. Peters has a season’s best of 86.38m. He won the Rabat DL title in May with 86.08m. The 33-year-old Walcott is yet to hit peak form as his season’s best is 83.45m.
