India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra comfortably won the gold at the Sotteville Athletics meet in France, beating a competitive field which included 2012 London Olympics gold-medallist Keshorn Walcott.
Neeraj Chopra underlined his claim as the favourite with a single throw on Tuesday, launching his Olympic title defence with 89.34 metres in qualification.
Defending champion Neeraj Chopra turned on the style as he stormed into the men's Javelin Throw final of the Olympic Games with a season's best effort of 89.34m in his very first attempt in the qualification round in Paris on Tuesday.
His stunning monster throw of 89.34 metres in the qualification round made quite a statement, but a tough challenge awaits defending champion Neeraj Chopra as he seeks another piece of history in the Paris Olympics men's javelin throw final round in Paris on Thursday.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who has qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, is returning home from his training base in Turkey owing to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced many countries to shut their doors to passengers arriving from outside. The 22-year-old Chopra has been training in Turkey for the last one month.
In the Diamond League Final, he will face the world's best in the event, including Olympic champion Thomas Roehler of Germany and last year's winner, Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic.
Justin Gatlin blasted out a warning that he is ready to challenge Usain Bolt's 100 metres hegemony when he stormed to a lifetime best 9.74 seconds to win the event in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season on Friday.
Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has undergone an elbow surgery
Chopra has now set his sights on this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Neeraj Chopra said it was a dream come true to win the World Championships gold medal.
The 32-year-old double Olympic champion made a blistering start to dominate the race from start to finish, giving Asher-Smith (10.92) and Ta Lou (10.98) no chance of catching her.
'My approach has been to do my best on the day according to the situation'
DP Manu and Kishore Jena are the other two javelin throwers who will be in action on Friday.
American sprinter Justin Gatlin won this third successive Rome Golden Gala 100 metres.
Competing in his first Olympics, Chopra took just a few seconds to make to the final round, to be held on Saturday, sending the spear well past the qualifying mark of 83.50 metres during the Group A qualifications.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The list of Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's admirers has grown with reigning World champion Johannes Vetter predicting a bright future for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
India's ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda won the silver medal in the men's discuss throw event, during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Tuesday.
He had finished 13th in the last edition of the championships in Doha in 2019 with the then national record time of 8:21.37.
Neeraj Chopra is not in a mood to be bogged down under pressure and said he is only focussed on producing his best at the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
Meet India's top athletes at Olympics 2024.
Chopra expressed his disappointment a day after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha came down heavily on the wrestlers for hitting the streets to resume their protests instead of approaching its athletes' commission to lodge their complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Head-to-head rivalries featuring the world's leading athletes are the best way forward for the beleaguered sport of track and field.
The race will be her first since the new rules went into effect
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Noah Lyles always wanted to be the next great sprinter after Usain Bolt retired and the 20-year-old American took a big step toward that goal with the year's fastest 100 metres at the US Championships in Iowa on Friday.
In 2022, he raced past Usain Bolt, 'the world's fastest man', to become the world's most written-about athlete. The attention has followed a stream of medals: Asian Games gold twice, an Olympic gold, and silver and gold at the World Athletics Championships.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will have to wait another year before chasing India's first Olympic track and field medal in Tokyo but the delay may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, the 22-year-old said. The Commonwealth and Asian Games champion, seen as one of India's best medal prospects at the Games, spent the whole of 2019 recovering from an elbow operation on his throwing arm.
Neeraj Chopra, on Sunday, won a gold in the Savo Games in Finland with an impressive performance, beating his Chinese Taipei rival Chao-Tsun Cheng as the duo warmed up for an Asian Games showdown.
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian javelin thrower to win an Asian Games gold medal as he shattered his own national record by clearing a distance of 88.06m, in Jakarta, on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
In the men's 20km race walk, Vikash Singh finished 28th in a time of 1 hour 21 minute 58 seconds, while Paramjit Singh (1:24:02) and Akashdeep Singh (1:31:12) were 35th and 47th respectively in the event in which 50 athletes competed.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Only world indoor record holder Christian Coleman has run faster than Baker's 9.87 seconds over 100 metres this year, and Baker was more consistent
The 24-year-old Shivpal Singh crossed the qualifying standard of 85m by hurling the spear to a distance of 85.47m in his fifth attempt to win gold in the ACNW Meeting at the McArthur Stadium late on Tuesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The eight top men to watch at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, from September 27 to October 6.
His first throw of 88.39 metres earned him automatic qualification for the final.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the ACNE League meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa, making an impressive return after recovering from an elbow injury. The 22-year-old Indian, who missed the entire 2019 season due to the injury, breached the Olympic qualification mark of 85m in his fourth attempt and secured the top place at the international event on Tuesday.
