India's Javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra is set to begin his bid to defend his Olympic crown at the Paris Games 2024. Chopra, the reigning Olympic Champion, comes into this contest with great consistency behind him.
The 26-year-old champion has finished in the top two of every competition he has been part of ever since the Tokyo Games. He is the reigning world champion, who has also clinched the Diamond League title and the Asian Games Gold in his career. Neeraj has achieved everything a Javelin thrower dreams of achieving and is now set for a repeat of his titles. However, Neeraj will face stiff competition from the rest of the field in Paris.
Among the star-studded field, there will be Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch, Germany's Julian Weber and Max Dehning, Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem and Grenada's Anderson Peters who will look to challenge the Indian Javelin champion in Paris. But when is Neeraj Chopra's event in Paris?
Neeraj Chopra to be in action on August 6
Neeraj Chopra will be among the 32 athletes competing in the Javelin competition at the Games. Another star Javelin thrower Kishore Jena will also be in action in the same event as he looks for a strong show. Jena has been impressive since last year, bagged a Silver at the Asian Games when Chopra clinched the Gold. He finished fifth in the World Championships last year when Neeraj won the event.
The Javelin competition is divided into two groups. Both groups will be in action on August 6. The Group A qualification will take place at 1:50 PM IST, while the Group B qualifier will be held at 3:20 PM IST on the same day. The final of the event is scheduled to take place on August 8 at 11:55 PM IST. Eight athletes qualify for the final which will be the case in Paris too.
Meanwhile, if Neeraj manages to defend his crown in the French Capital, he will become the only Indian to win two Gold medals in the individual category at the Olympics. He is the one of two Indians with single individual golds at the Games with Abhinav Bindra being the other Indian with the top prize.
