Heartbreak for Neeraj Chopra, Arshad Nadeem, crash out of World Athletics Championships 2025 javelin final in…

The men’s javelin final at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Thursday ended in anti-climax as Paris Olympics 2024 top two finishers – Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra – crashed out in 10th and 8th place respectively. The final was billed to be an India vs Pakistan rivalry and a replay of Paris Olympics 2024 javelin final between Neeraj and Arshad.

Neeraj Chopra only managed a best throw of 84.03m, far short of 90.2m he had achieved earlier this season in the Doha Diamond League 2025 event. In fact, Neeraj was trumped by India’s Sachin Yadav, who produced a best of 86.27m with his first attempt.

Pakistan’s Olympic champion did even worse by finishing in 10th place. After qualifying to the javelin final with a 85m-plus throw in his third and final attempt on Wednesday, Arshad Nadeem only managed a best of 82.75m in his 4 attempts before crashing out in 10th place.

Sachin Yadav finished in 4th place

Sachin Yadav from Khekra Village in Uttar Pradesh produced his career-best performance at the age of 25 to finish just short of a bronze medal on his World Athletics Championships debut. Sachin produced a throw of 86.27m with his first throw to lead the field but failed to improve on that mark to end up in 4th place.

Sachin, who won silver medal behind Arshad Nadeem at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, bettered that performance. He had thrown a distance of 85.16m in Gumi while he managed a season’s best of 86.27m.

2012 London Olympics champion Keshorn Walcott becomes world champion

Trinidad & Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott rolled back the years by winning his first major title after 13 years. Walcott managed a season’s best throw of 88.16m to win the men’s javelin title and take the crown from Neeraj Chopra.

Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medallist Anderson Peters from Grenada won the silver medal with a best of 87.38m while American Curtis Thompson ended up with bronze medal just ahead of India’s Sachin Yadav with a throw of 86.67m.

Neeraj Chopra’s former coach Klaus Bartonietz was in Walcott’s corner this time around as he helped the Trinidadian win the Worlds title. Neeraj’s current coach Jan Zelezny remains one of only two athletes to defend their men’s javelin crown.