Neeraj Chopra’s group on Thursday night time confirmed the listing of worldwide athletes for a first-of-its-kind Class A javelin occasion in India, the eponymous NC Traditional to be held in Bengaluru on Could 24.
Other than the Paris Olympics gold medallist being absent, there may be nonetheless sufficient starpower within the ultimate worldwide lineup within the males’s javelin solely occasion. The listing of Indian contenders – other than Neeraj Chopra, in fact – remains to be to be confirmed.
Anderson Peters (Grenada): Neeraj Chopra and Anderson Peters go approach again. They’ve been competing towards one another since 2016, ranging from the IAAF U20 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It was Neeraj’s first worldwide breakthrough as he threw 86.48m to create a brand new Junior World File that also stands. That day at Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Peters had completed with a bronze medal. Peters has since gone on to turn into a two-time World Champion (2019, 2022), and has repeatedly proven a capability to provide you with explosive throws, boasting a private better of 93.07m which he achieved in Doha in Could 2022. Within the 21 occasions that they’ve competed Head-to-Head, Neeraj has gotten the higher of Peters 15 instances, however the 27-year-old from Grenada has had some essential wins forward of Neeraj, like on the 2022 World Championships, the place he pipped the Indian star to a gold. Peters confronted a big spell away from the circuit after struggling severe accidents throughout a brawl on a ship in 2022, however has since come again near his finest, ending with bronze in Paris behind Arshad and Neeraj.
Thomas Röhler (Germany): A part of the fearsome group of javelin throwers from Germany alongside Johannes Vetter and Andreas Hofmann, Rohler is among the OGs. The 2016 Olympic Champion is taken into account one of many sport’s all-time greats. Between 2016 and 2018, Rohler had a finest mark of 90m+ seven totally different instances, with a private better of 93.90m. He has been scuffling with accidents lately although, going previous 80m simply as soon as in 2024 and didn’t take part in Paris however has been gearing up in the direction of a comeback.
Julius Yego (Kenya): The person also known as Mr. YouTube in javelin circles, Yego is a pioneer on this self-discipline, very like Neeraj, attaining loads of firsts for Kenya. From a rustic recognized for observe occasion specialists, Yego was a pathbreaker in javelin throw. His preliminary goals had been to turn into an endurance runner too however after getting lapped in a ten,000m race when he was 13 he determined to vary from observe to subject. With a scarcity of teaching experience in that occasion rising up, he spent hours on YouTube studying from the likes of two-time Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen and 2007 World Champion Tero Pitkamaki on YouTube to study technical expertise. He then went on to spend time in Finland underneath an IAAF Scholarship the place he refined it additional. He went on to turn into World Champion (2015) and Olympic silver medallist (2016). He’s pqast his prime however boasts of a finest mark at 92.72m.
Curtis Thompson (USA): The 2025 athletics season, particularly for javelin throw, is in its infancy however the early marker has been laid down by America’s Thompson. Having been round since 2013, Thompson’s rise has been regular quite than spectacular. He crossed 80m+ for the primary time in 2021, and earlier this 12 months threw a brand new private finest in Austin, Texas, the world-leading mark presently at 87.76m.
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Genki Dean (Japan): Whereas Japan boasts of arguably the most effective feminine javelin thrower on the earth proper now in Haruka Kitaguchi, Dean has been a strong competitor for some time on the boys’s facet. He’s the Asian Video games 2023 bronze medallist, and has a private better of 84.28m
Luiz Mauricio da Silva (Brazil): A finalist at Paris 2024, Brazil’s da Silva has a private better of 85.91m. Whereas Arshad set the brand new Olympic file on that well-known night time at Stade de France, da Silva was the opposite record-setter as he broke his personal South American file.
Rumesh Pathirage (Sri Lanka): A rising star from Sri Lanka, Pathirage has a private better of 85.45 and is already the second finest Sri Lankan in the case of males’s javelin throw, behind solely Sumedha Ranasinghe.