The first throw and a spot in the final was sealed.

Neeraj Chopra, the world javelin champion, knows how to do it at the Olympics. His monstrous throw of 89.34m at the noisy Stade de France on Tuesday morning is a testimony to that.

The moment Neeraj realised that one throw would be enough for a spot in Thursday’s final, he turned around and raised his arm. All those concerns of an adductor niggle were put to bed.

He topped the qualification round — Tuesday’s effort was his second personal best too — and looks primed to defend his Tokyo Olympic Games gold.

Wednesday, August 7, is the third anniversary of the feat. This time the 12-man final will be on August 8, Thursday. In Tokyo too, Neeraj needed just one throw of 86.65m to qualify for the final round. In Paris, he is sporting a similar hairstyle to what he had three years ago in the Japanese capital.

“A throw like this is a huge confidence boost for me. But Thursday’s final will be in the evening when the conditions will be different from what we had today (Tuesday). It will be a tough battle because others have also performed well in the qualification. And the mindset is completely different for the final,” Neeraj said at the mixed zone. “The adductor is much better now. I am keeping that (adductor) in mind while going for a good throw. I will try to be ready for the final with full preparation.”

Someone known to get a headstart with the first throw itself, like he did on Tuesday, Neeraj reminded his followers that it’s not always the case. “Like in Eugene (2022 World Championship) and Budapest (2023 World Championships), my first throw was not good.”

Anderson Peters (88.63m) of Grenada, who was second in Neeraj’s Group B, came second overall also. Julian Weber of Germany, who won Group A with 87.76, was third overall, while the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, also qualified for the finals with a throw of 86.59m in Group B.

Like his friend Neeraj, Nadeem too needed just one throw to breach the qualification mark of 84 metres. They did a 1-2 at the Budapest World Championships last year.

“I hope that we continue to perform for our respective countries and make the names of our countries shine bright globally,” Nadeem said.

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic came seventh overall, with a first-round throw of 85.63m. Vadlejch is the only javelin thrower
to have beaten Neeraj this year in the Doha Diamond League.

Neeraj’s personal best remains 89.94, achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden on June 30, 2022.

Neeraj’s compatriot Kishore Jena though failed to qualify for the final. The Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist had a poor throw, managing 80.73m. He finished ninth in Group A and 18th overall. Jena was struggling for form as he crossed the 80m mark just once in the six events he has taken part in after the World Championships.

Jena threw 80.84m to win a bronze medal at the National Inter-State Championships in Panchkula in June and that was his season’s best so far.

Max Dehning, the 19-year-old German, the youngest athlete to throw 90m (90.20m), as expected failed to qualify. Like Jena, he was also off-form since that throw on February 25, 2024, in Halle.