India’s Rohit Yadav joins Chopra in men’s javelin final

Tokyo Olympics 2022 gold-medalist in men’s Javelin throw, Neeraj Chopra made it to the headlines on Friday morning, for his feat of qualifying for the men’s javelin final at the ongoing World Athletics Championships 2022 in Oregon, US. Chopra earned a qualification in stellar fashion with a throw of 88.39 m in his first attempt in the qualifying round. While Chopra left everyone in awe of his performance, India’s celebration reached to new heights as Chopra’s fellow javelin thrower, Rohit Yadav became the second Indian to qualify for the men’s Javelin throw finals at the World Championships.

2 Javelin throwers from India qualify for the Javelin throw final for the 1st time in the World Athletics Championship 2022

Following in the footsteps of the Olympic champion, the 21-year-old Rohit, registered a throw of 80.42m in his first attempt. This is the first ever instance that two Javelin throwers from India have made it to the final of the World Athletics Championship 2022. Rohit currently ranks 28th in the world and is widely regarded as India’s second-best athlete in the event after Chopra.

Rohit Yadav hails from the Uttar Pradesh state of India and has gone over the 80m rank several times in the last three months. He started his debut World Championships campaign on the back of eight 80m+ throws in his career. In June 2022, Rohit returned with a personal best throw of 82.54 meters in the National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships, which took place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

India eyes gold in Javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championship 2022

It is pertinent to mention that, this was the first time Chopra qualified for the World Championships final, as he failed to do so during the 2017 edition of the tournament. Back then, Chopra had registered a throw of 82.26m and went on to miss the 2019 edition due to an injury. Both Rohit and Neeraj now eye the best possible finish in the finals, eyeing the gold medal. 

Both athletes are known to be friends and have been spotted sharing pictures alongside each other on social media. Rohit has already qualified for the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, and a medal at the World Championships will certainly boost his confidence ahead of the coveted event. A picture of both athletes shared on social media by Rohit from the World Championships venue, recently went viral on social media.

(Image: @RohitJavelin/Twitter)