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.
Neeraj Chopra versus Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem’s rivalry will take the centre stage once again on Thursday in the final of javelin at the World Athletics Championship final.
The stage is set for another chapter in one of modern athletics' most compelling rivalries. India’s double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will go head-to-head with Pakistan’s reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem in the Diamond League meet at Silesia, Poland, on August 16—their first face-off since the high-voltage showdown at the 2024 Paris Games.
Pakistani Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem has declined to comment on fellow javelin thrower and two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra’s recent remarks, saying he stands with his country’s army amid the ongoing tension between the two estranged neighbours.
Nadeem, who came up with the magic mark of 90.18m throw to claim the gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, on Thursday revealed that the only international standard javelin that he had is currently out of shape. Consequently, Nadeem is currently training with a locally-made javelin but that could lead to injury in the run-up to the Paris Olympics
