India's long jumper Murali Sreeshankar won the gold medal at the MVA 'High Performance' athletics meet held in Chula Vista, USA on Sunday.

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Competing in his second competition of the season, the 24-year-old, who had won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year, produced a fine performance as he missed his personal best of 8.36m by just 0.07m. Sreeshankar did his best last year. The qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Budapest in August this year is 8.25m and Sreeshankar's attempt was better but was disallowed due to high wind speed.

Murali Sreeshankar started his 2023 season at the Indian Grand Prix 3 in Bengaluru last month. He won the gold medal with a 7.94m effort in there. The meet in the US was his second competition of the year. And this was also his first piece of competitive action on foreign soil for 2023. Meanwhile, The Asian Games 2023 qualifying standard for men's long jump set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), meanwhile, is 7.95m.

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Sreeshankar held the men's long jump national record in India with his 8.36 jump. But Jeswin Aldrin surpassed him with an effort of 8.42m at the second Indian Open Jumps Championships in March. Meanwhile, Ma Weidong of China won the silver medal with a jump of 7.99m. While his compatriot Huafeng Huang won the bronze with a jump of 7.61m.

India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has qualified for the men's javelin throw final in the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Wednesday. Neeraj secured his place in the final with a throw of 84.85m in the first round. The final of this event will be held on Thursday, September 18th.

Also Read: World Athletics Championships 2025: Medal Tally and India's Results

All it takes is one throw. 🌟

Wake up, throw, qualify. #TeamIIS star Neeraj Chopra storms into the Tokyo World Championships final with an 84.85m throw on his very first attempt.#WorldAthleticsChamps #CraftingVictories 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/YYcvXH59wA

— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) September 17, 2025

Neeraj is the defending champion

Neeraj Chopra needed to cross the 84.5m mark to reach the final of this event and he achieved this feat by crossing this hurdle in the very first round. Neeraj Chopra is the winner of the javelin throw event at the World Championships and won the gold medal in the year 2023. He was the first Asian to win a gold medal in the javelin throw event at the Championships. 

So, Neeraj is competing in the event as the defending champion and will be aiming to become only the third player in history to win the World Javelin title twice in a row, after Jan Zelezny (1993, 1995) and Grenada's Anderson Peters (2019, 2022).

Neeraj won the gold medal in 2023 with a throw of 88.17m, while Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem finished second with a throw of 87.82m and Jakub Vadlejch finished third with a throw of 86.67m.

Neeraj recently breached 90m barrier

Earlier this year, Neeraj breached the 90m barrier with a 90.23m throw at the Doha Diamond League, but has also mixed in a few modest distances along the way. He had failed to breach the 85m in two competitions, and narrowly crossed the mark on two other occasions, with his second-best throw in the calendar year being 88.16m.

Weber qualified for the final

This time, apart from Neeraj Chopra, world number one Julian Weber qualified for the final by throwing 87.21m in the second attempt. Weber threw 82.29m in his first attempt. Neeraj was joined in Group A by India's Sachin Yadav, who threw 80.16m in his first attempt.

Other athletes in the 19-man Group A included 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, as well as Brazil's Luiz da Silva, 

While the 18-strong Group B comprises reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Anderson Peters and rising Sri Lankan Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage among others. The men's javelin also has three other Indian athletes - Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav, the biggest number among participating nations in the event.

The World Athletics Championships 2025 Tokyo got underway at the Japan National Stadium on 13 September. It will go on until 21 September. This milestone edition marks the 20th World Athletics Championships since the inaugural event in Helsinki in 1983. Over 2,000 athletes from 200 nations are competing across 49 events, with 147 medals up for grabs.

India’s disappointing campaign at the Championships in Tokyo continued with long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, sprint hurdler Tejas Shirse, and steeplechasers Parul Chaudhary and Ankita Dhyani failing to progress beyond the first round. Sreeshankar came back in July after sitting out for more than a year due to a serious knee injury but a late charge helped the 26-year-old Indian to qualify for his fourth World Championships by grabbing the last spot available through the rankings route.

Also Read: Abhinav Bindra vs Neeraj Chopra – Who’s India’s GOAT Olympian?

Meanwhile, Priyanka Goswami finished 24th in the women’s event while Sandeep Kumar came in 23rd in the men’s event. Ram Baboo, however, faced disqualification. Sarvesh Kushare scripted history by becoming the first Indian high jumper to qualify for the final of a World Athletics Championships 2025.

India have sent a 19-member athletics contingent for the World Athletics Championships 2025. The list features 14 men and five women, who will compete in 15 different medal events, 11 for men and four for women.

World Athletics Championships 2025 | Indian Athletes Results

Also Read: 10 Unknown Indian Athletes to Follow on Instagram in 2025

World Athletics Championships 2025 | Medal Tally

Instagram has transformed into a vibrant platform where athletes can engage with millions of fans and followers. Sharing with us their experiences, their joys and their achievements on Instagram, these are some athletes who we may not know properly, but definitely deserve to.

In this article, we will take a look at 10 unknown Indian athletes to follow on Instagram in 2025.

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Unknown Indian Athletes to Follow on Instagram in 2025

10. Pooja Bishnoi (Runner)

• Followers - 1.3M
• Account - poojabishnoi36

Pooja Bishnoi, a 13-year-old prodigy set a new meet record in the 3,000m race at the 2024 U-19 IPSC Athletics Tournament. She’s already won gold medals in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m, showing the world that she’s not just a fast runner, she’s a future Olympic star.  

Her hard work and strong will caught the eye of the Virat Kohli Foundation, which now supports her training, food, and travel.  

Pooja is also becoming popular on social media, inspiring young athletes across the country. 

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9. Simran Verma (Boxing)

• Followers - 232k
• Account - simran12verma

Simran Verma is a prolific boxer and athlete who competes in the 52 kg category. Simran has won a Bronze at the Sub-Junior National and Silver in the U-17 School Nationals. After being selected to join IIS, Simran took her game to the next level and won her first international Silver Medal at the Junior Nations’ Cup in Serbia in August 2019.

Simran continued to train and fight hard and she went on the become the National Champion in 2021. She also bagged the bronze medal in the 2021 Khelo India Youth Games. She aims to be a part of the Indian Olympic team.

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8. Akash Shinde (Kabaddi)

• Followers - 169k
• Account - akash_shinde_3

In the heart of Nashik's Adgaon village, a young boy named Akash Shinde dared to dream big. Little did he know that his journey from playing in the muddy grounds of his town to becoming a PKL winner would inspire a generation of aspiring athletes.

In the PKL Season 9, Akash truly announced his arrival, becoming a formidable force on the mat. In the 22 matches that Akash played on the way to his first PKL final, he scored 139 raid points, averaging 6.32 raid point per match.

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7. Aishwarya Mishra (Track and Field)

• Followers - 32.8k
• Account - mishra_aishwarya8856

Aishwarya Mishra, one of India's top quarter-milers, has left behind the controversy of 2022 and re-established herself with strong performances at the Asian level and the National Games. The Maharashtra athlete, who was once under scrutiny for missing a dope test, has proved her abilities on the track with multiple medals and record-breaking performances.

In 2022, Mishra won gold in the women's 400m event at the Federation Cup in Kozhikode with a time of 51.18 seconds, making her the third-fastest Indian quarter-miler. 

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6. Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump)

• Followers - 73.1k
• Account - sreeshankarmurali

Murali Sreeshankar is an Indian athlete who competes in the long jump event. He created a national record of 8.36 metres set in 2022. He also grabbed silver medal in Asian Games 2023.

The 26 year old set to make a comeback from what many would have perceived a ‘career-ending’ injury. Murali has been out of competitions since before the Paris Olympics.

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5. Niharika Vashisht (Triple Jump)

• Followers - 251k
• Account - niharika.vashhisht

Niharika Vashisht is a national gold medalist in the triple jump. Vashisht grabbed eyeballs of everyone by beating local favourite Sandra Babu in the women’s triple jump at the National Federation Senior Athletics Championship.

A social media influencer, Niharika has quite a following on the internet. She is making prudent use of the revenue she earns from social media account by funding her own training expenses.

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4. Pyari Xaxa (Football)

• Followers - 39k
• Account - xaxapyari

Having made her senior team debut in 2015, just after turning 18, the girl from Kuarmunda – a small town in Odisha – was one of the most promising youngsters when the Indian women clinched gold in the South Asian Games in 2016.

Pyari recently voted best Women's Indian Player of the Year.

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3. Avani Lekhara (Para-shooting)

• Followers - 138k
• Account - avani.lekhara

Para-shooter Avani Lekhara is the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in the Para Olympic history. She is also the second Indian after javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia to win two gold medals at the Games. 

Avani's journey did not stop at the Paralympics. She continued to shine in various international competitions, including the World Cups and Asian Para Games, where she consistently won medals and set new benchmarks. 

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2. Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)

• Followers - 18k
• Account - ayhika.m

An Arjuna Awardee, Ayhika Mukherjee from West Bengal has been representing India at the global stages since multiple years, having won many medals. She most recently won a historical Bronze Medal along with Sutirtha Mukherjee at the 2022 Asian Games, beating the Chinese World Champion duo in the Quarter Finals. 

Having already won multiple international medals, Ayhika’s career is on an upward graph as she continues to rise the ranks and improve her play.

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1. Sheetal Devi (Para-Archery)

• Followers - 607k
• Account - sheetal_archery

Teenaged Indian para-archer Sheetal Devi made history at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, clinching the bronze medal in the mixed compound archery team event alongside Rakesh Kumar. At just 17 years old, she became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist and only the second armless archer in history to win a Paralympic medal.

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Neeraj Chopra finished second with a best throw of 84.14m at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial competition at Silesian Stadium in Poland on Friday.

Julian Weber finished first with an 86.12m throw.

Though the double-time Olympic medalist looked disappointed and frustrated after a few foul throws to start with, his fourth year in in top two of every tournament he participated in continued.

Read Also | Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

A few days ago, Neeraj had breached the 90m mark and registered his personal best and National record with a 90.23m throw in the Doha Diamond League. Unfortunately, even in that tournament also he finished second to Julian Weber's 91.06m throw. 

Hello and welcome to the LIVE blog of Doha Diamond League 2025, where the largest Indian contingent in terms of numbers at any single Diamond League meet to date is going to perform. 

Double Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra will take part in the men's javelin event. Kishore Jena will be the second Indian to participate in that event.

Read Also | NEERAJ CHOPRA INJURY: A SAGA OF STRAIN, TECHNIQUE, AND RECOVERY

In the men's 5000m, Gulveer Singh will compete for India. Meanwhile, Parul Chaudhary will compete in the Women's 3000m steeplechase event. 

This is Koushik Biswas, who will bring you all the LIVE updates, results and commentary of the Doha Diamond League 2025 for you. So, stay tuned and enjoy the coverage.