World Athletics Championships 2025 Final: Keshorn Walcott wins title, Sachin Yadav finishes 4th; Neeraj Chopra ends 8th, Arshad Nadeem 10th

The Olympics champion is OUT! He can manage just 82.75 metres on the night! So he is eliminated after four attempts and will not continue tonight!

Neeraj Chopra, meanwhile, too is perilously close to being eliminated. Neeraj has a best effort of 84.03m. That's only good enough to be 8th best on the night so far!

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes:

Jakub Vadlejch could have eliminated Arshad Nadeem halfway through this final if he had managed 82.75+ But he hasn't.

Nadeem survives. Wow. Who would have thought we’d have Nadeem 10th & Neeraj 8th after three rounds? Who would have thought Walcott would be the man to beat!

Arshad Nadeem survives! He will get one more throw as Jakub Vadlejch, who shared a podium with Neeraj Chopra at Tokyo 2020, gets eliminated!

Here are the standings. This means that the Pakistan thrower will start us off with the fourth round

Neeraj Chopra has a x against his name for his third throw. No mark! But Neeraj Chopra remains in 8th spot in the standings while Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem is 10th.

Nadeem has not crossed 83m after three attempts so far today!

After two sets of throws from all the 12 javelin throws, Neeraj Chopra is 8th with a best effort of 84.03m while Sachin Yadav is 4th with a 86.27m throw.

Olympic champion from Pakistan Arshad Nadeem is 10th!!! He's on the verge of elimination, unless he betters that effort!

We have a surprise leader after two rounds as Keshorn Walcott throws 87.83m with his second attempt!

This means Sachin Yadav is fourth in the standings right now with Neeraj Chopra 8th!

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes:

KESHORN WALCOTT! Where did that come from? The 2012 London Olympics gold medallist is in the lead with a monster 2nd throw! 87.83. This is WILD.

Pritish Raj notes:

Keshorn Walcott is at the top!

As unpredictable as it can get, you have defending World Champion, World Leader and Olympic champion out of the podium positions.

Keshorn Walcott is the new leader as he is at the top with a throw of 87.83m.

Crazy final

Neeraj Chopra does not look happy with his second throw. he threw 84.03 metres with his first attempt and could not top it up with his second effort of 83.65m.

He looks a tad underwhelmed with his own efforts.

Pritish Raj writes:

Yesterday, the qualification cutoff of 82.89m of the Javelin Throw was the second toughest qualification in the history of the World Athletics Championships and overall third toughest if you count Olympics also.

This final promises to be an unexpected final much like the theme of this year's edition of the Championships where everyday there is underdog becoming World Champion.

Hold on to you seats for this roller coaster ride

Pritish Raj notes:

The World Championships final is being played in a new format.

Out of the 12 finalists, only top 10 will remain after three attempts and after the fourth attempt, only top eight will get a chance to have the last two throws.

Mihir Vasavda writes: "At Tokyo Olympics, Chopra had explained how the humidity impacted the throws. The National Stadium, he said, was an enclosed arena and there's very little wind. Back then, he threw flatter, 'which meant there was less turbulence and javelin would travel farther'. His competitors gave it more flight, which Chopra and his then coach, Klaus Bartonietz, felt was one of the differences. Given the humidity in Tokyo tonight, this tip from his former coach could come in handy for Chopra."

The second Indian thrower in action, Sachin Yadav, throws 86.27m to surge into second spot!

Pritish Raj notes: "Sachin Yadav records a personal best in the first throw. The pressure of big stage brings the best out of the debutants and he is at the podium spot with a throw of 86.27m.

To this, Mihir Vasavda adds: "There's an Indian in the second position after the first round of throws and it isn't Neeraj Chopra. Not many would have expected. But Sachin Yadav's personal best throw of 86.27 has got him into podium places, even though it's early days yet in the final."

86.67 from USA’s Curtis Thompson! A surprise leader after all the big names have done their first attempts. Neeraj third as of now, behind the American and Anderson Peters. This is, as we thought, off to a VERY TIGHT start.

Pritish Raj writes:

In a very rare sighting, one-third of the Javelin finalists are from the Indian sub-continent.

India has two finalists (the only country to have more than one), Pakistan has one and Sri Lanka has one.

Defending champion Neeraj Chopra and Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem the main representative of the sub-continent at the World level. Sachin Yadav is the another Indian in the fray and Sri Lankan national record holder Rumesh Pathirage completes the line-up.

The Javelin throwers from the sub-continent are on a rise in the 2025 season with four direct qualifications for the World Championships, making it another rarity for the region in the sport of the Athletics.

To this, Mihir Vasavda writes:

There are just three throwers from Europe in the 12-man final -- Julian Weber of Germany, Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic and Dawid Wegner of Poland. In 10 out of the 19 World Championships, dating back to 1983, European throwers have dominated the podium, claiming all three places.

India's Neeraj Chopra propels himself to second spot in the standings with four throwers getting their first throws in. Neeraj has a throw of 83.65m first up, which is just behind Anderson Peters, with 84.59m.

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem throws 82.73m and is fourth! And Nadeem does not look too happy with his distance. But yesterday too, he needed to warm up with his first two qualification throws, before he threw his best distance of Wednesday.

The javelin throwers are being introduced to the stadium right now ahead of the final. Since they're standing in order of the throws, Arshad Nadeem finds Neeraj Chopra right next to him.

Chopra greets the camera with a traditional namaste!

Julian Weber will start us off! Nadeem will be third and Neeraj will be fourth

Why did Arshad Nadeem struggle to qualify for the final? The Olympic champion from Pakistan put it on his recent surgery. Nadeem had undergone calf surgery in July and has competed just once since the Paris Olympics.

The lack of competition seemed to have affected his performance. He told the World Athletics: "I haven’t had much practice with my run-ups since my surgery, so that’s something I need to focus on tomorrow. If I can get a good run-up, I’ll have my throw."

There is plenty of starpower on display. Here’s the depth of tonight’s field. Potentially one of the most open men’s javelin events we have had in a long time.

Reigning World Champion, Tokyo Olympic champion: Neeraj Chopra

Reigning Olympic Champion: Arshad Nadeem

World No 1 and best in 2025: Julian Weber

Two-time former World Champion: Anderson Peters

Former Olympic champion: Keshorn Walcott

Former World Champion: Julius Yego

Olympic & Worlds silver medallist: Jakub Vadlejch

And the javelin throw final starts shortly. The athletes, including Neeraj, are out in the middle already getting a feel of the atmosphere in the stadium.

And we also have our first glimpse of Neeraj Chopra, the man with the world champion's crown on his head that he's hoping to defend here in Tokyo.

Only two men in history have defended a world championship gold in javelin throw, one of them being Neeraj's coach Jan Zelezny. Can Neeraj Chopra join his coach and idol, Zelezny?

Here’s a look at how Indian athletes have performed at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo so far:

Javelin: Neeraj CHOPRA, qualified for the final with a first throw of 84.85 metres

Javelin: Sachin YADAV qualified for the javelin throw final with a best attempt of 83.67m

Javelin: Yash Vir SINGH missed out on qualification for final with a best throw of 77.51m

Javelin: Rohit YADAV missed out on qualification for final with a best throw of 77.81m

200 Metres: Animesh KUJUR ended 9th with a 20.77s time in the heats

Triple Jump: Abdulla Aboobacker was 10th in Qualification with a best effort of 16.33m

Triple Jump: Praveen CHITHRAVEL was 8th in Qualification with a best effort of 16.74m

High Jump: Sarvesh KUSHARE ended in 6th spot in the final with a best jump of 2.28m

Long Jump: Murali SREESHANKAR was 14th in Qualification with a distance of 7.78m

110 Metres Hurdles: Tejas SHIRSE was 6th in Heats with a time of 13.57secs

35 Kilometres Race Walk: Sandeep KUMAR ended 23rd with time of 2:39:15

35 Kilometres Race Walk: Ram BABOO ended 23rd with time of 2:39:15

35 Kilometres Race Walk: PRIYANKA was disqualified

1500 Metres: POOJA was 11th in the heats with a time of 4:13.75

Did you know that in the last three World Championships and the previous two Olympics no European male won the gold in javelin.

When Germany's Julian Weber was asked why this has happened in an in interview with The Indian Express, he said: "It’s crazy. It’s shifted a lot. There’s so many great javelin throwers all around the world, like from Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Pakistan and Kenya. And it’s really nice. It’s probably one of the most international disciplines. It’s nice to see that javelin throw is getting bigger all around the world. And especially in India, it has gotten really big with Neeraj. I think change came a little bit because of Kenyan Julius Yego (2015 World Champion), the YouTube man. A lot of people thought that if he can do it… learning javelin throw and winning a medal at the World Championship, I can do that too. And then there was also Keshorn Walcott (from Trinidad and Tobago) winning gold at the 2012 Olympics. It’s just the evolution of the javelin throw."

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes:

Apart from his 90+ in Doha, Neeraj Chopra’s best even this year was in Paris in the Diamond League. He won the event with his first throw of 88.16m. Afterward, he gave a glimpse of what he wasn’t able to quite right. "I'm happy with the throw. It was my first throw and it was a good start but I was hoping for really good throws today," Neeraj would say in the mixed zone later. "My run-up was really fast today. I can't control my speed, but I'm happy with the result and with first position."

Neeraj elaborated that the problem he faced was at the time of release where he felt he was falling over to the left. "It is a matter of timing because I feel really good (with the) run-up, but the timing was not so good when I throw. I went quickly left and it was not good. I need to throw to the front, like with the chest and go up with the javelin, and but I go too much left. We are working on it," he said, gesturing to the chesty release he'd like to execute.

Later, after NC Classic, he elaborated on it: “I am doing a mix of new and old techniques. I feel if I can replicate the technique that I do in training in competition, then I will get very good results," Neeraj said on the sidelines of a promotional event for one of his sponsors in Gurgaon. The major change that he needs to implement is being more upright at the point of release. Because he leans to the left, he is not able to transfer his full power to the javelin when he releases it. "I go towards the left a lot if you see my throws. We are focussing on not going towards the left. I waste a lot of power and strength (when I go towards the left) that can be transferred into the javelin. In training, I am able to follow the (new) technique. I am also working a lot on the run-up."

Vinayakk Mohanarangan notes: Here are the best throwers of 2025 ahead of the Tokyo showpiece. Weber has been leading the way pretty much all through, starting with that big throw in Doha. Da Silva threw 91m in August but hasn’t made the final here. Neeraj is third on the World List 2025.

Here are the best throws of 2025 so far in men's javelin:

1. 91.51m Julian Weber (Ger) Zurich Aug 28

2. 91.00m Luiz Mauricio Da Silva (Bra) Sao Paulo Aug 3

3. 90.23m Neeraj Chopra (Ind) Doha May 16

4. 87.76 Curtis Thompson (USA) Austin Mar 28

5. 87.16 Yuta Sakiyama (JPN) Tokyo Jul 5

Here’s a look at the all-time best throwers in men’s javelin thrower. Three of those men are in action tonight: Peters, Nadeem and Yego in the mix. But none of them have crossed 90m this year.

There's plenty more to the eventual javelin distance than just the run-up speed. Like, the thrower's own power, technique, launching angle, height, trajectory achieved and that abstract noun called form. But the runway track, from where the throwers build momentum does play a tiny role in how the throw pans out.

As per the Mondo track (makers) website, the Tokyo 2025 World Championships are using the same tracks as were laid out between August and November 2019, for the 2021 Olympics. It's where Neeraj Chopra won gold.

Paris three years later, ended up being the first Olympic Games where four men threw over 88 metres or better. Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch threw 88.50m and still missed out on a medal in fourth place.

As it turned out Johannes Vetter who flopped at Tokyo after being tipped for gold, was consulted to bring about javelin-specific changes in Paris. The track with sustainable sea-sell composites reflected in the distances achieved.

But will reverting to Tokyo, tilt the advantage towards Chopra?

Jan Zelezny, the javelin throw legend who currently holds the world record, the Olympic record and the world championships record, was helping both the Czech Republic medallists when Neeraj Chopra beat them to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj Chopra has spoken at length about the influence of Zelezny in his career.

But when the duo started working together, the legend also spoke glowingly about the Indian thrower.

"I have already spoken about Neeraj as a great talent many years ago. When I saw him early in his career, I realised great possibilities for top results. I also said that if I should start to coach somebody from outside Czechia, my first choice would be Neeraj. I like his story and I see big potential, as he is young and able to improve. There have been many athletes contacting me for coaching, so for me to take this up means that it is a great honour to have him in my team. We are getting to know each other more closely and will start in person at a traditional winter camp in South Africa. I believe in his progress, especially in the technical aspect, so that he can continue achieving top positions at the main championships,” said Železný.

Jan Zelezny, the man in Neeraj Chopra's corner as a coach, is a veritable legend of the sport who currently holds the world record, the world championship record and the Olympic record.

He was also a gold medalist at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, has five of the top ten best throws of all time, and broke the world record on four occasions en route to claiming the current undisputed mark of 98.48m, in Germany, in 1996. Jan was coach of both other medalists Jakub Vadlejch (silver) and Vítězslav Veselý (bronze) when Chopra won Gold at Tokyo 2020, and has also coached two-time Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion Barbora Špotáková.

When the two has begun their partnership, Neeraj had said: “Growing up, I admired Jan’s technique and precision and spent a lot of time watching videos of him. He was the best in the sport for so many years, and I believe that working with him will be invaluable because our throwing styles are similar, and his knowledge is unmatched. It’s an honour to have Jan by my side as I push towards the next level in my career, and I can’t wait to get started.”

German javelin thrower Julian Weber had recently spoken at length with The Indian Express' Nihal Koshie about entering the 90-metre club, his camaraderie with India's Neeraj Chopra, having fans from India, why champions are emerging from different parts of the world and how being from a handball family influenced his early years.

Weber is one of the top challengers for Neeraj Chopra today because the German has thrown a world-leading distance of 91.51 metres this year. The throw had come on a big stage as well: at the at the Diamond League Final in Zurich.

"I really hope that if I win a medal, Neeraj also wins a medal. We both deserve a medal. And if I am better than him that day, I know he will respect that. And I will respect him, if it’s the other way around. So I hope the Indians will like it too if I win a medal," he told The Indian Express.

Read Weber's full interview with The Indian Express here

Here's a look at the throwing order for today! Neeraj Chopra will be the fourth thrower, right behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem. In the 2025 toplist, Neeraj has the third best throw of 2025 which was his national record-breaking heave of 90.23 metres in Doha. Arshad Nadeem's best throw of the year, meanwhile, is 86.40m, which marks him as the ninth best thrower of 2025.

Well it depends on what the level of competition is. As per the World Athletics manual of regulations, in a Women's U18 javelin throw event, the spear can weigh 500 grams. The weight of the spear increases as per the level of the event: 600g for Women's U20 or Senior Women's events, 700g for Men's U18 events, 800g for men's U20 and senior men's events.

Chopra will be looking to become the third male javelin thrower in history to defend the World Championships gold. Czech legend Jan Zelezny (1993, 1995), who is now Chopra's coach, and Anderson Peters (2019, 2022), who also qualified for the final, are the other two who have won the world championships crown on two consecutive occasions.