New Delhi : In a huge blow to Indian medal hopes, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has been ruled out of the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022, which get underway on Thursday (July 28) due to injury. The javelin star had hinted that he was not completely fit when he competed in the final at the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday (July 24).
“Neeraj Chopra will not take part in Commonwealth Games 2022. He is not fit as he got injured in the finals of World Athletic Championship. He informed us about this,” Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General of the IOA confirmed to news agency ANI on Tuesday (July 26).
Neeraj, who became the first man to win a medal at the World Athletics, was the defending champion in the CWG having won gold at the Gold Coast Games back in 2018. In his absence, Anderson Peters of Grenada, who won gold in the World Athletics Championships on Sunday will be the favourite to become the new champion.
The Indian javelin star had been in fine form this season. At the Worlds, Neeraj had come up with a throw of 88.13m to finish with a silver. Earlier this month, Neeraj had broken his own national record with a throw of 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League event.
The star athlete has improved his personal best twice – he recorded a 89.30m throw on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland before sending his spear to 89.94m, just 6cm shy of 90m, in the prestigious Stockholm Diamond League Meeting on June 30.
Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, had competed in the 2017 London World Championships with the hope of at least making it to the finals but managed only 82.26m to fall short of the automatic qualification mark of 83m.
He had also missed the 2019 World Championships in Doha as he was recovering from an elbow surgery.
Bureau Report
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