WebDesk
Neeraj Chopra’s incredible run at global events came to a halt at the scene of his greatest triumph, the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. Four years after he won Olympic gold, and two years on from his World Championship triumph in Budapest, Neeraj finished eighth, with a best throw of 84.03m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who had beaten him to Olympic gold in Paris last year, fared even worse, finishing 10th.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott – Olympic champion at the age of 19 in London (2012) – took gold with a throw of 88.16m, holding off the challenge of another Caribbean athlete, Grenada’s Anderson Peters (87.38m). Julian Weber, the form athlete in the field, finished fifth. The surprise package was undoubtedly India’s Sachin Yadav, who sent the javelin sailing over 85m thrice, with a personal best of 86.27m propelling him to fourth place.
Neeraj had qualified with consummate ease, flinging the javelin 84.85m in his only attempt, but he struggled with his rhythm right through Thursday evening’s final. He managed only three legal throws, and was visibly frustrated as he was eliminated before the final set of throws.
Nadeem scraped into the fourth round in tenth place, but went no further after an injury-plagued season, while Weber couldn’t improve on his 86.11m in the second round. The USA’s Curtis Thompson led after the first round with a throw of 86.67m, but Peters and Walcott both threw over 87m in the second round to seize control of the competition.
Sachin finished the first round in second place, but couldn’t find enough in the final rounds to leapfrog Thompson into the bronze-medal position.
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