“I don’t understand what happened today,” says Neeraj Chopra on 8th place finish at World C'ships

Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra admitted to feeling puzzled and disappointed after finishing eighth in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday.

His best throw of 83.65m in the opening attempt remained unbeaten in his subsequent four efforts.

“I don’t understand what happened today. This has not happened for a long time,” Chopra said in a post-event interview with World Athletics.

“I had some problems before coming to Tokyo. Two weeks ago I had some back issues, but I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was thinking I would still manage to get through it. But javelin is really tough. If you are not in good shape, you’re out.”

Chopra, who stormed into the finals with a qualifying throw of 84.50m, stressed that competing on consecutive days was not a factor.

“Competing two days in a row was not a problem. It was OK because I qualified yesterday with my first throw. It was not too far, but I thought it was still good, and I could throw further today.”

Reflecting on lessons from the day, the 27-year-old emphasized the need for continued training and technical refinement.

“It’s ok. I will learn from today. Maybe I need more training or to improve my technique. Maybe I just need more time for training. But it’s life, it’s sport. I have to accept it and move on.”

Chopra plans to carefully review his performance footage. “I will go back to my room, watch the competition, and check on my throws. I will work on it,” he said.

This result marks the first time since 2017 that Chopra has missed a World Championships podium, following his silver in 2022 and historic gold in Budapest in 2023.

Fellow Indian thrower Sachin Yadav outperformed him in Tokyo, finishing fourth with a personal best of 86.27m .