Neeraj Chopra's 2025 World Championship campaign begins at the Tokyo National Stadium on Wednesday evening, as he looks to defend the title he won in Budapest in 2023. Here's everything you need to know about the men's javelin throw competition at the World Championships:
When is Neeraj Chopra in action?
There are 37 athletes in action in the men's javelin throw qualification, including four Indians - Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh.
The 37 athletes are split into two groups. Neeraj and Sachin are in Group A, alongside 17 others including Julian Weber, Keshorn Walcott and Jakub Vadlejch. Action in Group A will begin at 3:40pm IST on September 17.
Rohit and Yash Vir are in Group B, alongside 16 others including Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Anderson Peters and Luiz Mauricio da Silva. Action in Group B will begin at 5:15pm IST on September 17.
The final begins at 3:53pm IST on Thursday, September 18. [The Worlds are being telecast on JioHotstar]
How many athletes qualify for the final?
The automatic qualification mark is 84.50m.
Any athlete who throws beyond that mark will qualify for the final. A minimum of the 12 from the two groups combined will make it through to the final.
So, if an athlete doesn't throw more than 84.50m in qualification, he would need to be in the top 12 to secure his place in the final. If more than 12 athletes throw farther than 84.50m, then all of them make the final.
What's the format in the final?
All the finalists have three throws to start with, at which point the competition is cut to only the top eight throwers, from where the throwing order changes to be in descending order of their standings.
What is Neeraj Chopra's history at the World Championships?
Neeraj finished second in Eugene in 2022, behind a monstrous performance from Anderson Peters who had three 90m+ throws in that final.
In Budapest in 2023, with Peters missing, Neeraj won the competition with a throw of 88.17m, 45cm further than Nadeem, who finished second, ahead of the Czech Jakub Vadlejch.
What are Neeraj Chopra's chances of winning?
If Neeraj Chopra is to defend his World Championship in crown in Tokyo, it will likely have to be with the best throw of his life.
You see, going into these Worlds he isn't the favourite for it. That tag rests solely on the shoulders of the German Julian Weber. He's had a storming year so far, crossing 90m three times already in 2025. In his last competition - the Diamond League final in Zurich - Weber bettered his personal best twice, with his first two throws traveling 91.37m and 91.51m.
For Neeraj, the year began in promising fashion at the Doha Diamond League, where he crossed 90m for the first time in his career, even though he finished second to Weber on that day. Since then, he hasn't quite managed to consistently achieve marks in the high 80s, as he's so used to doing. He's won three major events this year - the Golden Spike Meet in Ostrava, the Paris Diamond League, and the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru. Only in Paris was his winning throw farther than 88m.
It is a cause for concern for Neeraj and his coach Jan Zelezny. In the last few years, the consistency of finding throws in the range of 89m has been Neeraj's biggest strengths. It's why he has finished in the top two in each of the last 26 events that he has competed in.
Perhaps, it is the quest to push himself to the limit knowing that Weber and Nadeem seem capable of hitting 90+ at will that is compromising Neeraj's technique. But one thing is for sure, if he can't manage to get back to his comfort zone around the 89m mark, it's more likely than not that he will return from Tokyo without a medal.
Nadeem hasn't yet hit the heights of his Olympic gold winning performance in 2025 yet, but he has never been one to need too many competition outings to find the big marks at world events. Apart from Weber, Brazil's Luiz Mauricio da Silva has also crossed the 91m mark this year, so he also presents a challenge to Neeraj. The gauntlet has been thrown down. Can Neeraj take it up?