The inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic on Saturday in Bengaluru will see a host of javelin throw greats from around the world compete with India's best, including double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, who has founded the tournament.
Here's a look at all the athletes competing in the event to be held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Neeraj Chopra
Personal Best: 90.23m | Season's Best: 90.23m
The clear favourite to win the title named after him is Neeraj Chopra himself. He's already had a good start to the year, breaching the 90m mark for the first time in his life, and then proceeding to win the Paris Diamond League and the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czechia. This will be Neeraj's first event in India since last year's Federation Cup, and he will be looking to near or better that 90.23m throw that he made at the Doha Diamond League in May.
Thomas Rohler
Personal Best: 93.90m | Season's Best: 80.79m
The 2016 Olympic champion is the highest-profile overseas athlete who will compete at the Neeraj Chopra Classic this year. He hasn't competed at the top echelons of javelin since 2020, when a back injury derailed his preparations for the Tokyo Olympics. He has participated in three events so far this year, and has thrown around the 80m mark, which shouldn't really threaten the top contenders at the event, like Neeraj.
One of javelin's finest.
Now ready to compete on Indian turf.
Thomas Röhler has arrived ����
��️ Catch the action live, tickets now at: https://t.co/p48gyHwm72#NeerajChopraClassic #javelin #GameOfThrows pic.twitter.com/7fOxDRlcQx- Neeraj Chopra Classic (@nc_classic) July 3, 2025
Julius Yego
Personal Best: 92.72m | Season's Best: 83.08m
Yego is Africa's greatest ever javelin thrower and the only African world champion in the sport. His current form is a far cry from his peak of the mid-2010s. Yego, though, still has shown sparks of brilliance in the last year, particularly with his 87.72m throw in the final of the Paris Olympics. Yego has been busy in 2025, this will be his seventh event of the year.
Curtis Thompson
Personal Best: 87.76m | Season's Best: 87.76m
The American began the year in style with the best throw of his career in late March. However, he has competed in five events since and hasn't thrown farther than 82m in any of those. Thompson clearly does have the ability to reach the late 80s, but he hasn't yet shown consistently that he can challenge the top level, against the likes of Neeraj.
Luiz Mauricio da Silva
Personal Best: 86.62m | Season's Best: 86.62m
Like Thompson, the Brazilian has also thrown his career best in 2025, with an 86.62m throw at the Paris Diamond League in June. That was farther than any South American has ever thrown in a javelin competition. He finished third, behind Neeraj and Julian Weber there. He's gone past 85m in three events this year and also has a big win under his belt - the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, in a field that also had the likes of Peters and Yego.
Cyprian Mryzyglod
Personal Best: 85.92m | Season's Best: 85.92m
The Pole was a late addition to the event, having been invited as Anderson Peters' replacement, after the Paris Olympics bronze medallist withdrew due to injury. He comes into the tournament in good form too, having won in Kuortane, Finland, at the end of June with the best throw of his career, at 85.92m. He finished second at the Paavo Nurmi Games last month, and fourth at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland in May, behind Weber, Neeraj and Peters.
Rumesh Pathirage
Personal Best: 85.45m | Season's Best: 85.41m
The Sri Lankan put the spotlight on himself earlier this year with an 85.41m throw in Perth, Australia. However, he had a disappointing time at the Asian Athletics Championships, where he didn't finish in the top three. He also didn't get too close to his personal or season's bests, throwing only 83.27m, as he finished fourth, behind Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, India's Sachin Yadav and Japan's Yuta Sakiyama.
Martin Konecny
Personal Best: 80.59m | Season's Best: 80.59m
The Czech athlete is another one of those who's had the best throw of their career coming in 2025. He threw 80.59m at Golden Spike meet in Ostrava in late June, which Neeraj won. He has competed in seven events this year, and has thrown past 80m in just one of those.
Sachin Yadav
Personal Best: 85.16m | Season's Best: 85.16m
Sachin is now undoubtedly India's No 2 javelin thrower. He finished second at the Asian Athletics Championships in May, only behind Nadeem. He touched 85m for the first time in his career and is only getting better and stronger through the course of the year. Sachin also won the Federation Cup in April, having thrown 83.86m in Kochi on that day.
Rohit Yadav
Personal Best: 83.40m | Season's Best: 80.47m
Rohit was once touted as the next big thing in Indian javelin, but injuries have slowed his progress down and threatened to derail his career entirely. This year, he has competed in four events so far but has managed to cross 80m in only one of them - the National Games in Dehradun. He had finished seventh at the Federation Cup.
Yash Vir Singh
Personal Best: 82.57m | Season's Best: 82.57m
Like Sachin Yadav, Yash Vir also went to the Asian Athletics Championships and threw the best he has in his career yet. That throw was only good enough for fifth place on the day, but it showed consistent improvement that he has been striving for all year. He's thrown above 80m in two out of five events this year and will be looking forward to another positive outing at the Neeraj Chopra Classic.
Two young arms. One big stage.
Rohit Yadav and Sahil Silwal are locked in for the Neeraj Chopra Classic.
��️ Watch the next generation take flight - July 5, Sree Kanteerava Stadium.#NeerajChopraClassic #javelin #athletes #GameOfThrows pic.twitter.com/j7fmXZJvRS- Neeraj Chopra Classic (@nc_classic) July 2, 2025
Sahil Silwal
Personal Best: 81.81m | Season's Best: 77.84m
A left-handed javelin thrower, Silwal rounds off the list of Indians taking part at this event. He's only taken part in two events so far this year, with a best throw of 73.10m at the Indian Open Throws competition in Mumbai, and then a best throw of 77.84m at the Federation Cup in Kochi. His personal best of 81.81m came in June last year, and he will be looking for something similar at the Kanteerava.
Note: Originally, Grenada's Anderson Peters and India's Kishore Jena were part of the field, but both of them have withdrawn from the tournament due to injury.