Tracking Neeraj Chopra's performance ahead of Paris Olympics

The reigning Olympic javelin throw champion, Neeraj Chopra will be aiming to successfully defend his title at the Paris Olympics. Chopra needed only one big throw at the World Championships to qualify for the men's final as well as the 2024 Paris Olympics, with a first attempt of 88.77m. The qualifying mark at the Paris Olympics is 85.50m, and he also went on to win India's first-ever gold medal at the Worlds with an 88.17m effort in the final.

At the Tokyo Olympics, he made history by getting India's first-ever athletics gold at the Olympics, with a best throw of 87.58m. He also became the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra (2008) to get an individual gold at the Olympics. He also became the first Indian since independence to win a medal in athletics at the Olympics.

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Post Tokyo Olympics and in the buildup to Paris, he has been in good form. In June 2022 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in FInland, he came second with a new personal best of 89.30m which also became the new national record. He broke his own national record with a throw of 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League, where he came second.

He got a historic silver in July 2022 at the Oregon World C'ships, and then a gold at the Lausanne Diamond League in the same year, which also qualified him for the Zurich final. He won the final with a throw of 88.44m, becoming the first Indian to do so and also qualifying for the 2023 World C'ships.

He got top spot in the Doha Diamond League in May 2023, with a 88.67m throw, and also in the same month attained first position in the men's javelin rankings by World Athletics. In August 2023, he won gold at the World Athletics C'ships with a throw of 88.17m, and then came second in the 2022 Asian Games in October 2023, with a season-best throw of 88.88m.