India's Neeraj Chopra qualified for the men's javelin throw final at World Athletics Championships, being held in Eugene, Oregon, with an effort of 88.39m. The Olympic champion sealed his spot in the final with his first throw in the qualification round. Chopra was in Group A of the qualification round and the first to throw, and the 24-year-old wrapped it up early for himself. He will now compete in the final, which is set to be held on Sunday early morning (IST).
The automatic qualifying mark in javelin throw for the World Championships final was 83.50m.
Chopra's throw was the best in Group A and only Jakub Vadlejch, who was the silver-medallist in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, breached the qualification mark in the group. The rest of the spots will be decided after the athletes in Group B are done with their throws.
Chopra had set a new national record of 89.94m, just 6cm shy of the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin throw, at the prestigious Diamond League in Stockholm last month en route to a silver medal. The 24-year-old finished second behind Grenada's Anderson Peters, who recorded a best throw of 90.31m.
"I was 6cm short of the 90m mark, I was pretty close. I hope to cross 90m this year. But I never think or focus on distance going into a competition. I just try to give my 100 per cent," Chopra said in a virtual interaction from Eugene recently.
Chopra is cherishing phenomenal results this season. The star athlete has improved his personal best twice -- he recorded a 89.30m throw on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland before sending his spear to 89.94m last month.
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In between, he had won the javelin throw event at Kuortane Games in Finland with a throw of 86.69m under wet and
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