Neeraj Chopra shows he is only human: A champion’s toughest day in seven years

Neeraj Chopra has been the face of Indian athletics for several years, carrying the nation’s hopes on his shoulders every time he picked up the javelin. He has won gold and silver at the Olympics, gold and silver at the World Championships, and medals almost everywhere he went.

But something unusual happened on Thursday, September 18, at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo as Neeraj finished eighth in the men’s javelin final. The Indian superstar walked away from a major competition without a medal for the first time in over seven years.

This was a disappointing night for fans in India. But the pain must have been even deeper for Neeraj. He was at the very top of the sport for years, winning medals on a regular basis, but suddenly the Indian star found himself outside the podium.

This is only the second time in his career that Neeraj has failed to win a medal at a major event – the first being the 2017 World Championships in London, when he was just starting out as a youngster and trying to make a name on the big stage. He had turned into one of the most reliable champions in world athletics since then.

“It’s happening after a long time. Normally, I used to control the situation, but it was a different day today. I will accept this result and will try to do my best next season,” Neeraj was quoted as saying after the final on Thursday.

A season of highs and one painful low

Neeraj’s 2025 season had been excellent until this moment. Out of the six competitions he took part in before the World Championships, he won four and finished second in the other two. His season-best throw of 90.23m at the Doha Diamond League helped him break his own Indian national record. He was consistently finishing at the top and looked in prime form heading into Tokyo.

Neeraj’s results this season:

2. Diamond League Final, Zurich – 2nd (85.01m)

3. Neeraj Chopra Classic, Bengaluru – 1st (86.18m)

4. Golden Spike Ostrava – 1st (85.29m)

5. Paris Diamond League – 1st (88.16m)

6. Doha Diamond League – 2nd (90.23m, season-best and national record)

7. Potchefstroom Invitational – 1st (84.52m)

These results show why expectations were so high. Neeraj had not missed the podium in any event since September 2018, when he finished sixth in Ostrava. That’s 33 competitions in a row where he had finished among the top three. In fact, he had finished in the top two in 26 straight events since 2021. It was a streak that made him one of the most consistent athletes in the world, not just in India or in javelin throw.

The night when things didn’t go right

But champions are human too. Neeraj showed this at the World Championships as he finished eighth with a below-par throw of 84.03m. This is not the standard the Haryana-born athlete is known for. India’s Sachin Yadav came out as the surprise package, finishing fourth with a personal best of 86.27m, missing out on a medal by the slightest of margins.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, the 2012 London Olympics champion, won gold with 88.16m, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters took silver with 87.38m, and USA’s Curtis Thompson grabbed bronze with 86.67m. Neeraj’s rival, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, also struggled in Tokyo as he finished tenth with 82.73m. Arshad had snatched the gold from Neeraj at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

This India vs Pakistan matchup was tipped as the rivalry to watch at the World Championships in Tokyo, but both champions suffered a disappointing evening as they were knocked out early.

Competed despite battling an injury

Neeraj revealed why things went wrong in the final. He had been carrying a back injury since the first week of September and did not train before the event. Neeraj said that he picked up the injury while practicing shot put throws at a training session in the Czech Republic. He underwent scans in Prague, which showed issues in his disc. Neeraj and his team discussed the risks and still decided to compete in Tokyo.

“But before coming here, while training in the Czech Republic, I had a back issue and due to that, I have not trained for the last two weeks. Rehab is going on for that. My team knows this, and I have informed AFI also. We did not even know initially whether I would be able to compete or not. But we made a decision that I would compete. I was not feeling healthy, not having much of training,” Neeraj told NNIS.

“The incident happened on September 4. I was doing the shot put throw during training. I do back throw and front throw. When I bent down to do a front throw, there was a sudden jolt on my left side, the blocking side, which got stretched, and I could not even walk. We did an MRI in Prague and there was a problem in the disc. After we arrived here on September 6, I have been undergoing treatment with the help of a machine every day. We did a (testing) session, and decided to compete.”

Champions always bounce back in style

This result must hurt more than anything for an athlete like Neeraj. Fans may be feeling sad or disappointed, but he is the one who has worked so hard and trained even when he was in pain. To give everything and still not win is the hardest thing for any sportsperson.

But if we look at history, champions like Neeraj always come back stronger. He is still one of the greatest athletes India has ever had, and will definitely bounce back in style in future tournaments.