With only a few minutes to spare, Chopra qualified by throwing the spear further than he ever had this season on his very first attempt. He was the undisputed leader of Group A in the preliminary round.
In the men’s javelin throw at the World Championships on Friday, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra needed just one huge throw to qualify for the final and earn a spot in the 2024 Paris Games. He threw an impressive 88.77 metres.
The cutoff for the 2024 Olympics in Paris is 85.50 metres. The time period for eligibility started on July 1.
Chopra, who is only 25 years old, qualified in just a few minutes by throwing the spear the farthest distance he has all season on his first try. In the preliminary round, he dominated Group A.
Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, decided not to throw any farther after the automatic final qualification mark was established at 83m.
Manu placed third and sixth overall at his first World Championships, in the same group as Chopra. His personal best throw was 81.31 metres, achieved on his second try. In July, Manu had taken home silver at the Asian Championships.
After having her visa initially denied by the Hungarian embassy in New Delhi, Jena eventually received approval and placed fifth in Group B and ninth overall with a distance of 80.55 metres. His first World Championships is a big deal.
The top 12 competitors from each group (A and B) who throw further than 83 metres advance to the championship round.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, qualified for the 2024 Paris Games with a personal best throw of 86.79 metres.
In the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, where Chopra won gold, Nadeem won his group and came in second place overall.
The Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who finished second to Chopra in the Olympic silver medal competition in Tokyo, placed second in Group B and third overall with a best throw of 83.50 metres.
German thrower Julian Weber placed fourth with a distance of 82.39 metres.
Anderson Peters of Grenada, the defending champion who has struggled for form this season, could not make it to the final round after placing seventh in Group A and sixteenth overall with a best throw of 78.49 metres.
Chopra’s performance in Friday’s qualifying round of the World Championships is reminiscent of his work in the same phase of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.