Paris Olympics 2024: Neeraj Chopra qualifies for men's javelin final with 89.34m throw
Paris: Neeraj Chopra qualified for the men's javelin final with a throw of 89.34m in his first attempt in the Group B qualifier on Tuesday, his season's best. The automatic qualifying mark is 84m. Earlier, Kenya's Julius Yego, Germany's Julian Weber and Czech Republic's Jakub Wadledge automatically qualified for the finals with impressive throws. The other Indian in the fray, Kishore Jena, is unlikely to make it to the 12-man final after managing a best throw of 80.73m.
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Commonwealth champion, also qualified for the final with a throw of 86.59m. The 26-year-old has always been a crowd favourite. Going into the tournament as the reigning champion, Neeraj was allowed to bowl first and the Indian promptly delivered.
As soon as the spear slipped from Neeraj's hand, the Indian threw both his hands in the air, a sign of satisfaction at his deliverance. This was Neeraj's second-best throw after 89.94 meters in the Stockholm Diamond League and the best throw at the World Championships. Earlier in the year, Neeraj had thrown 88.36 meters at the Doha Diamond League and also sent the javelin 85.97 meters at the Pavo Noormi Games.
