Neeraj Chopra qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics, enters World Championships final

Olympic gold-winning athlete Neeraj Chopra has secured a place for the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, August 25, after qualifying for the World Championships men's javelin throw final in Budapest, Hungary.

He managed to throw his fourth career-best performance of 88.77 metres, while the qualifying mark for the 2024 Olympics in Paris is 85.50 metres.

The qualifying rounds began on July 1. There, the 25-year-old sent his spear far beyond, making it his season's best distance on his first attempt. He also won Group A in the qualifying round.

With the automatic final qualification mark of 83 metres already achieved, Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94 metres, packed up and left the tournament venue without making any further throws. 

DP Manu, who also competed in the same group as Chopra, finished third with a best throw of 81.31 metres on his second attempt. Manu will have to wait until the Group B qualification round ends to see if he can make the cut for the final that will be held on Sunday. Kishore Jena, another Indian, will be competing in Group B.

According to the qualifying regulations, those who throw 83 metres or above, are placed in the top 12 of Group A and Group B will qualify for the final. In the qualifying round, each contender has three chances.

In Group A, Julian Weber of Germany finished second with a best throw of 82.39 metres. Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who has struggled with his form this season, finished seventh with a best throw of 78.49 metres. Julius Yego of Kenya, who won gold at the World Championships in 2015, finished eighth with 78.42 metres.

Chopra's performance in the World Championships qualifying round on Friday, August 25, was similar to his performance at the same stage of competition in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

He had just required one throw of 86.65 metres to qualify for the final on that occasion as well.At that time, the automatic qualifying mark was 83.50 metres. He went on to win gold in the final with a throw of 87.58 metres, creating history in the process.

With inputs from agencies

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