Prateek Tanmay
3 min readJun 20, 2026 12:21 AM IST
There was speculation whether double Olympic medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra would feature at the Commonwealth Games 2026 and when he would start his season. On the day of CWG squad announcement, the Athletics Federation of India on Sunday added him provisionally to the squad on the condition that he clears the qualification mark of 82.61 metres.
At the Doha Diamond League on Friday, he put all the doubts to rest with a best mark of 85.69m. Neeraj not only breached the qualification mark, he also became the first Indian thrower to cross the 85m mark this year.
Returning from a long injury layoff after the Tokyo World Championships, Neeraj didn’t start on a good note. Neeraj recorded a no mark with World Championships bronze medallist Curtis Thompson of the USA leading with 85.99m after the first round.
However, in the second round, Neeraj breached the qualification mark for the Commonwealth Games. With his 82.77m throw, he easily went past the 82.61m mark set by AFI. Anderson Peters took the lead after the second round with a 86.38m throw as Neeraj was stationed in fourth place.
Improving further in the third round, Neeraj registered a throw of 85.69m and moved to third.
Sri Lankan prodigy and world leader Rumesh Pathirage recorded 88.68m in his fourth throw to take the lead pushing Neeraj to fourth place. Rumesh Pathirage has been the best javelin thrower this season by miles with the top three marks in the world. He is also the only thrower to cross the 90m mark with 92.62m.
The rescheduling of Doha Diamond League due to the US-Iran war proved crucial for Neeraj as he got a chance to start his season at one of the favourite venues.
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“I had asked the organizers if it was fine to confirm my entry close to the tournament and they were fine with it,” said Neeraj.
It is the same venue where Neeraj had crossed the elusive 90m mark last year but lost the title to Germany’s Julian Weber who trumped his mark with his throw of 91m. “Yes, I have that memory of the 90m mark throw. That is why it is one of my favourite venues. Although, Julian Weber immediately threw bigger than me that night,” Neeraj said on the eve of the Doha Diamond League.
He, however, believes that the 90m throw was not perfect technically. “I don’t think the 90m throw was technically good. It came out fast from my arm but if I could do better with my lower body, I’ll improve 2-3 metres more,” said Neeraj.
