India’s star Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday qualified for Paris Olympics 2024 as he registered a monstrous throw in the World Athletics Championships 2023. Chopra registered a season-best throw in Group A of the qualification round at the Worlds in Budapest, Hungary. The reigning Olympic Gold medalist Chopra sent his spear to a huge 88.77m mark on his first attempt itself to breach the qualifying mark of 85.50 for the Paris Games. Meanwhile, he has also booked his place for the World Athletics Championships finals.
Chopra bagged a Silver medal at the Worlds last year. He has endured a fine 2023 so far but was troubled with a muscle strain that saw him miss out on a month’s action. He looked to come into his peak at the Worlds and the 25-year-old did it in style. Chopra took no time to come at the best in the qualification round. He broke his season throw mark of 88.67m and added another 10 centimetres to it in Budapest. He has also confirmed his place in the finals of the Championships.
Chopra only to get automatic qualification for final from Group A
Notably, the Indian star was the only athlete from his Group to earn a direct entry for the World Athletics final. The automatic qualification mark was kept at 83.0m and apart from Chopra, no one breached the mark. Another India, namely DP Manu came close to a qualification mark but finished third at 81.31m, behind Germany’s Julian Weber, who threw his Javelin to 82.39.
Anderson Peters’ title under threat
Notably, the defending champion at the Worlds Anderson Peters is facing an elimination threat. The 2022 Champion finished seventh in Group A and has not attained an automatic berth. His best throw stood at 78.49. Peters will have to depend on the results of Group B and hope to be present for his title defence in the 12-man final. Notably, athletes registering a throw above 83m get an automatic spot for the final, while others wait for the best efforts of others to determine the next qualifiers.
