Indian ace Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has done everything. He is the reigning Olympic Games champion. He is the current world and Asian Games champion and has won the Diamond League and Commonwealth Games too.
When Neeraj steps onto the track of the Paris Olympic Games, he will have the tag of the defending Olympic champion, something which is rare in Indian sporting history. Neeraj will fancy his chances of getting another gold medal and becoming the only Indian with two individual golds in his name.
However, he is likely to face challenges from several competitors in the arena. A total of 32 athletes will be participating in the Javelin event across the two groups. Neeraj is placed in Group B, while the other Indian in the fray, Kishore Jena, is in Group A. Neeraj is one of the most consistent Javelin throwers since the Tokyo Olympics and would bank on his consistency in Paris.
Neeraj Chopra has to overcome these athletes for another gold
In the Javelin field of the Paris Olympics, six athletes have better personal best records than Neeraj. While Neeraj has sensational consistency after the Tokyo Games, Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch is another name which has been pretty consistent in recent times.
Neeraj has finished in the top two of every competition he has been part of after the Tokyo Olympics, and Vadlejch has finished in the top three in his last 19 events across the previous two years.
Then there is Germany's Julian Weber, who has become his country's top Javelin thrower now. Weber won the European Championships 2024 and Ostrava Golden Spike but his Personal best is a little short of Neeraj.
Another German Max Dehning can also pose a challenge to Neeraj. Well, he isn't known much but he has breached the 90m mark earlier in February 2024, something which Neeraj has not done so far. But he is not in great form currently.
There is Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who has also gone past the 90m mark at the Commonwealth Games 2022 where he won Gold in Neeraj's absence. He is coming back from an injury and Neeraj too had an adductor niggle before.
Another competitor would be Anderson Peters, who had a poor 2023 season and suffered an assault aboard on a yatch in 2022. But he is a big-game performer and is looking to find his form. Peters is a two-time world champion and has an 86.62m throw this season.
