Indian sensation Neeraj Chopra has qualified for the final of the Javelin event at the Paris Olympics 2024. The defending Olympic champion has stormed into the final in his first throw itself as he sent his spear to a distance of 89.34m. Neeraj was placed in Group B of the qualification competition.
With his first throw of 89.34m, Neeraj also breached his season's best mark of 88.36m which he had set at the Doha Diamond League in May 2024. As he usually does, he completed the job on his first attempt. Notably, this is also Neeraj's second-best throw of his career with his top throw being 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem also made it to the 12-man final in his first attempt of 86.59m. The automatic qualification spot to qualify for the final was 84m.
Meanwhile the other Indian in the fray, Kishore Jena missed out on qualifying for the final. He finished 9th in Group A with his best throw of 80.73m. Jena sent his spear to 80.73m in his first attempt and then fouled his second attempt. He needed an 84m throw on his final attempt but managed to scale a distance of 80.21m which was not enough for him to make his way into the final.
A total of 12 athletes qualify for the final out of 32 across the two groups. Neeraj came into this competition with not much competition on his back. He took part in only three competitions coming into the Paris Games. His preparations for the Olympics were hampered when he picked an adductor issue. The Indian star also skipped the Ostrava Golden Spike 2024.
Neeraj finished in first place after combining the results of both groups. The 12 athletes to have booked a ticket for the finals are - Neeraj Chopra (89.34), Anderson Peters (88.63), Julian Weber (87.76), Arshad Nadeem (86.59), Julius Yego (85.97), Luiz Mauricio da Silva (85.91), Jakub Vadlejch (85.63), Toni Keranen (85.27), Andrian Mardare (84.13), Oliver Helander (83.81), Keshorn Walcott (83.02) and Lassi Etelatalo (82.91).
