Neeraj Chopra Regains Top Spot in World Javelin Rankings

Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has reclaimed the top spot in the World Rankings, according to the most recent list released by World Athletics this week. Neeraj had lost the No. 1 position to Anderson Peters on September 17 last year, after Peters won at the Diamond League Final in Brussels. Neeraj Chopra is now back at the top of the javelin rankings, with Arshad Nadeem in fourth place.

Neeraj currently has 1445 points, while Peters has 1431. German athlete Anderson Peters is in third place with 1407 points, followed by Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem in fourth with 1370 points.

Neeraj will defend his World Championships title in Tokyo in September. He started his season with a gold medal at an invitational meet in Potchefstroom, throwing 84.52m. In the Diamond League opener in Doha, he achieved a throw of 90.23m for the first time, but finished second behind Weber. At the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Chorzow, he came second with a throw of 84.14m.

Neeraj secured a win against Weber at the Paris Diamond League with an opening throw of 88.16m. He claimed his third victory of the season at the Ostrava Golden Spike with the same distance. Neeraj will be competing next at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5.

After surpassing the 90m mark, Neeraj expressed to RevSportz, \"A lot of people had doubts. Many said it wouldn't happen because I had been trying to reach 90m since 2018. I had hit 88-89 many times, but not 90m. So finally, the burden is off the shoulders of Indians.\" He is currently under the guidance of javelin legend Zelezny, who became the chief coach last year. Neeraj mentioned that they have been working together since February.