Paris: Neeraj Chopra qualified for the men’s javelin final with a monstrous 89.34m throw in his first attempt in the Group B qualification event on Tuesday and was his season’s best. The automatic qualification mark is 84m. Earlier, Kenya’s Julius Yego, Germany’s Julian Weber and Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch automatically qualified for the final with impressive throws. The other Indian in fray, Kishore Jena, is unlikely to make the 12-man final after managing a best throw of 80.73m.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, also qualified for the finals with a throw of 86.59m. The 26-year-old has always been a crowd favourite. Coming into the competition as the reigning champion, Neeraj was allowed to throw first and the Indian delivered instantly.
As soon as the javelin went out of Neeraj’s hands, the Indian put up both hands in the air, a sign that he was satisfied with his release. This was Neeraj’s second-best throw after 89.94m in the Stockholm Diamond League and the best at a global championship. Earlier in the year, Neeraj had thrown 88.36m in Doha Diamond League and also sent his spear to a distance of 85.97m at the Paavo Nurmi Games.
Jena’s opening throw was 80.73m, and he fouled his second attempt before coming up with 80.21m in his last effort. Toni Keranen (85.27m) of Finland was the fourth athlete to go past the automatic qualification mark of 84m from Group A.
Jena had booked an automatic Olympics berth with his 87.54m throw for a silver medal in the Asian Games in October last year. After that, he crossed the 80m mark in just one out of six competitions before Tuesday.
