Gold eluded defending champion Neeraj Chopra as he signed off with a silver in the Olympics men's javelin throw event, while Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem bossed the field with a new Games record of 92.97m here on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Chopra, who has never lost to Nadeem in their earlier 10 meetings, took the silver with his second round throw of 89.45m. He had won gold in Tokyo with a throw of 87.58m three years ago.

The season's best effort was the Indian's only legitimate throw of the evening.

Nadeem's monster effort -- sixth longest in history -- also came in his second attempt which was like a bolt from the blue that stunned the Stade de France.

The earlier Olympic record stood at 90.57m in the name of Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, set during the 2008 Beijing Games.

Nadeem also signed off in style with a closing throw of 91.79m.

Season's best effort, top spot in Group B

Neeraj Chopra turned on the style as he stormed into the men's javelin throw final with a season's best effort of 89.34m in his very first attempt in the qualification round.

Much like his qualifying round performance in the Tokyo Olympics, the 26-year-old crossed the automatic qualifying mark of 84m in his opening throw to occupy the top spot in Group B.

The tremendous effort, which is the second best of his career, also set aside concerns surrounding Chopra's fitness after he revealed that he had been battling an adductor niggle in the build-up to the Games. His personal best continues to be 89.94m achieved back in 2022.

Chopra, also the reigning world champion, topped the qualification round -- combined of Group A and B -- with his monster throw. Two-time world champion Anderson Peters (88.63m) of Grenada was second in Group B and he was second overall also.

Julian Weber of Germany, who won Group A with 87.76, was third overall, while reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan also qualified for the finals with a throw of 86.59m in Group B.

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic, who was the only man to have beaten Chopra this year in Doha Diamond League, was seventh overall with a first round throw of 85.63m.

Jitters before qualification round?

Asked how he felt before and after the qualification round, he said, "Before the throw I thought it will be very good if we do it in the first attempt, we can go and do some stretching, relax and then we can prepare for the final. After the throw, I felt very good. We are ready for the final."

Chopra said though he was not throwing quite well in practice.

"We were doing technical throws slowly," he explained.

The qualification was scheduled early in the day but the final will be held in the evening under cooler conditions. Chopra said the preparations will be according to the conditions.

"It's going to be a little bit cold and definitely the mindset for the final will be different. And it will be a good and stiff competition. "

Asked who he thinks is best-placed to win the contest, he quipped," Whoever qualifies automatically is well prepared."

Jena bows out

The other Indian in fray, Kishore Jena, bowed out of contention to make the 12-man final on Thursday after managing a poor throw of 80.73m. He finished ninth in Group A and 18th overall.

All those who threw 84m or above, or at least the 12 best performers from Group A and B combined advanced to the final. Nine throwers crossed the automatic final round qualification distance, a reflection of the quality of the competition.