The much-anticipated showdown between India’s Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem in the men’s javelin throw final of the World Athletics Championships 2025, turned into a no-show after both men endured nights to forget at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.
Four years on from his glorious Olympic gold at the same venue, and two years after being crowned world champion in Budapest, Neeraj could manage only eighth place with a best of 84.03m. Similarly, Nadeem, who had denied Neeraj Olympic gold in Paris last year, fared even worse, finishing 10th in a performance blighted by injury struggles.
Instead, it was Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott who stole the spotlight. Once the teenage sensation who won Olympic gold in London 2012 at just 19, Walcott rolled back the years with a season best throw of 88.16m. Grenada’s Anderson Peters claimed silver with 87.38m while Germany’s Julian Weber, the in-form thrower coming into the event, could do no better than fifth.
The surprise of the evening came from India’s Sachin Yadav. Competing in his first senior global final, Sachin cleared 85m three times and produced a Personal Best 86.27m to finish a highly creditable fourth, narrowly missing out on the bronze that went to the USA’s Curtis Thompson (86.67m).
For Neeraj, it was a night of frustration. Having qualified with ease on the back of an 84.85m effort in his lone attempt on Wednesday, the Tokyo Olympic champion never found rhythm in the final. He managed only three legal throws before bowing out, visibly agitated as he missed out on the final rounds.
Nadeem, meanwhile, scraped into the top 10 but could not advance, his season-long fitness issues proving too much to overcome.
Thompson had briefly raised hopes of a North American breakthrough by leading after the first round with 86.67m, but the competition turned decisively in the second round when Peters and Walcott both soared past the 87m mark. Sachin, who had been in second place after round one, kept pushing but couldn’t quite leapfrog Thompson into the medals.
What was expected to be another chapter in the Neeraj–Nadeem rivalry instead became the stage for a Caribbean resurgence and the emergence of a new Indian contender in Sachin Yadav.