Neeraj Chopra CWG Javelin Throw Qualification LIVE: Indian star looks to book place in final

3 min readUpdated: Jul 30, 2026 03:13 PM Neeraj Chopra is waiting for his turn in the qualification round as the Indian looks to qualify for the medal round on Friday. The other two Indians Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav started their attempts with 73.89m and 77.04m respectively.
Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakan regered his season best but it was only 78.63 while Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka currently leads with a 82.84 in first attempt.
A lower back injury has been troubling Chopra since September 2025 and he made a delayed start to the season at Doha Diamond League on June 19. He finished fourth with a throw of 85.69m — a modest one his high standards.
With another round of rehabilitation and training for a month at his training base in Bienne in Switzerland, the 28-year-old two-time Olympic medall Indian superstar would be looking to repeat his gold-winning performance at 2018 Gold Coast CWG. He reached here on Friday from Switzerland.
Chopra had won gold in Gold Coast with a throw of 86.47m. He missed the 2022 Games due to an injury.
Indian athletics head coach Radhakrishnan Nair, who is expecting the 32-member team to better last edition’s eight-medal haul, said Chopra is in “perfect physical shape”.
It will, however, be a tough fight for the gold for Chopra in a star-studded field. The men’s javelin qualifying round will be on July 30 and the final the next day.Story continues below this ad
Except for the likes of Curtis Thompson of USA and Julian Weber of Germany, all the global javelin top stars will be in action in Glasgow.
Besides Chopra, Nadeem and Pathirage, the other competitors include reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, 2022 CWG silver winner Anderson Peters of Grenada and Julius Yego of Kenya.
In the mix will be India’s , who, in fact, is in the second spot among Commonwealth season leaders with his 87.05m last month. He is also a medal contender. is the third Indian in the fray.
Pathirage will start as favourite for gold as he is the lone 90m-plus thrower in the world this season with his 92.62m while winning Rome Diamond League title. The 23-year-old has another three 88m-plus throws and won two DL titles this season.Story continues below this ad
Nadeem, though, has been struggling for some time, and he is entering the Games with an extremely poor 78.47m effort at Luzern, Switzerland, on July 16. Peters has a season’s best of 86.38m. He won the Rabat DL title in May with 86.08m. The 33-year-old Walcott is yet to hit peak form as his season’s best is 83.45m.