In the men’s javelin final, Neeraj Chopra is one of the favorites to win Gold. Johannes Vetter of Germany will be hoping to add to his already-record-breaking season. This year, the 28-year-old has set five new Indian national records. Neeraj Vetter of India and Nadeem Arshad of Pakistan hold the season’s best throws of 86.66m and 86.38m, respectively. Vitezslav Vesley and Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, as well as Julian Weber of Germany, have struggled this season.
Key Summary
- Neeraj Chopra is one of the favorites to win Gold in the men’s javelin final.
- The 28-year-old has set five new Indian national records this year.
- World No. 1 German Johannes Vetter is the favorite to win the Gold.
- Vetter threw a tremendous 97.76m throw (in Poland) in September 2020 to establish himself as the favorite for the Gold with a season-best of 96.29m.
- Vitezslav Vesley and Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic and Julian Weber of Germany have struggled this season.
Today, it’s impossible for Indian sports enthusiasts to disguise their joy. After all, after three years of bearing high hopes of being a medal contender, Javelin star Neeraj Chopra enters the men’s javelin final as one of the favorites to take one of the historic top three slots and permanently engrave his name in Indian track and field history.
Norman Pritchard, a sprinter for British India, was the first and only athlete to win track medals (silver medals in the 200m and 200m hurdle) at the 1900 Paris Olympics.
Since then, the closest Indian athletes have gotten to achieving this accomplishment has been great runners Milkha Singh (400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics) and PT Usha (800m final of the 1980 Tokyo Olympics) (400m hurdles final of 1984 Los Angeles Olympics). Not to mention the fact that long jumper Anju Bobby George, India’s only World Championship medalist, also finished fifth in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Is it true, though, that Neeraj has a good chance of earning the historic medal? A closer examination of the facts reveals that a medal is a distinct possibility, considering just eight of the top 20 javelin throwers in the world qualified for the 12-man final. But make no mistake: winning a medal comes with its own set of hurdles, and at the top of those challenges is a man named Johannes Vetter.
The World No. 1 German enters the final with a lot of buzz surrounding his pre-Olympic performances. Vetter threw a tremendous 97.76m throw (in Poland) in September 2020 to establish himself as the favorite for the Gold. With a season-best of 96.29m, he continued his excellent form in the new season.
The 28-year-old German has also thrown over 90 meters five times this year and appears unbeatable in the final for someone like Neeraj, whose best throw of 88.07 meters (a national record) occurred early in the season.
Vetter struggled during the qualification round three days prior and had to wait until the third and crucial attempt to move past the direct qualification mark of 83.50m with an 85.64m score, according to the report.