Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has become world number one for the first time in his career in the latest men’s javelin throw rankings issued by the World Athletics on Monday. Neeraj Chopra is on top with 1455 points, 22 points ahead of Anderson Peters of Grenada. On August 30, 2022, the Indian javelin legend rose to world No. 2 but was trailing defending world champion Peters since then in the javelin throw rankings.
Also Read: Federation Cup 2023: 21-year-old Rohit Yadav won the javelin throw gold medal
In 2022, Neeraj won the Diamond League 2022 Final in Zurich in September. He was the first Indian athlete to do so. Not only this, he became only the second individual player to win a gold medal for India. However, he was sidelined with an injury after the win in Zurich. The Indian national record holder in men’s javelin throw had competed in the season-opening Doha Diamond League on May 5 and finished first with a throw of 88.67m. After this, no one could throw a spear as far as him. Anderson Peters finished third in Doha with a throw of 85.88m.
Neeraj Chopra will now participate in the FBK Games 2023 in the Netherlands on June 4. He confirmed participation in the Paavo Nurmi Games 2023 in Turku, Finland on June 13 as well. With the Paris 2024 Olympics around the corner, the 2023 season is expected to be an important one for Neeraj. He will compete in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Neeraj will also defend his Diamond League title and Asian Games javelin gold medal in Hangzhou.
Also Read: Federation Cup 2023: Annu Rani makes Asian Games cut after winning javelin throw gold
Meanwhile, Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, finished third with 1416 points in the latest javelin throw rankings. Germany’s Julian Webber finished fourth while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, completes the top five. Rohit Yadav, world No. 15, and DP Manu, world No. 17, are the other Indian javelin throwers in the top 20 javelin throw rankings.
