This time around, Chopra is still to hit top gear this year after returning from a nine-month injury layoff after last year’s World Championships. But despite not being at his best, Neeraj needed just two throws to qualify in fifth spot with a 79.61m effort. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem also made the cut with a throw of 78.63m (a season’s best) while Rohit Yadav (78.37m) was ninth and Yash Vir Singh (78.36m) was 10th.
Neeraj Chopra returns to CWG, but the javelin field has changed
Neeraj Chopra ahead of the men’s javelin event at the Commonwealth Games 2026, in Glasgow (PTI Photo)
Neeraj Chopra is back at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) after missing the previous edition in Birmingham due to a groin injury. There is a special connect between Chopra and the CWG because he won his first major senior international medal, a gold, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Back then, the venue for track and field was the 40,000-seater Carrara Stadium. For the ongoing truncated edition, it’s the 11,000-seater Scotstoun Stadium. But the significance of Glasgow will remain, given that Chopra is aiming to win his first medal since winning his own event – the Neeraj Chopra Classic a year ago.
“The 2018 Commonwealth Games was my first senior competition, and it was a good start because I had won gold. I have focused on technique, and I want to execute that well. I don’t have any target, but I want to give my 100 percent, and that will be my aim,” Chopra said after arriving in Glasgow.
