India’s top medal prospects at Tokyo Olympics and their main challengers: Neeraj Chopra

Still waiting for its first track and field Olympic medal, India will pin its hopes on men’s javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra to break the barrier at Tokyo 2020.

Neeraj Chopra emerged as a ray of hope for India’s track and field ambitions after becoming the IAAF World Under-20 champion in 2016. By setting the world junior record of 86.48m at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland, Chopra became the first Indian to win a world title in a track and field event.

There has been no turning back since and gold medals at the 2017 Asian championships, 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games followed. A shoulder injury disrupted his 2019 season, forcing him to miss the World Championships in Doha.

In January 2020, a fit-again Neeraj Chopra made a roaring return at the ACNW League Meet in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

The 23-year-old cleared the Olympic qualification mark of 85m with an 87.86m throw to book his ticket to Tokyo just before the COVID pandemic brought the world to a standstill.

In 2021, Neeraj Chopra won two domestic events – the Federation Cup and Indian Grand Prix 3 - in Patiala. In the latter, he threw his personal best of 88.07m, which is also the current national record.

Neeraj Chopra, ranked 42nd in the world, will head into Tokyo with a lot of positive momentum behind him which makes him a dark horse for a medal.

However, the Uwe Hohn-trained Armyman from Haryana will still need to upset some proven world beaters to realise his ambitions of bringing back a medal from the Tokyo Olympics.

Johannes Vetter (Germany)

Top achievements: World Championships gold medal in 2017 and bronze medal in 2019.

What makes him special? Germany’s Johannes Vetter, the current world No. 2, will be one of the overwhelming favourites to win the gold medal at Tokyo. At Rio, the German thrower missed the podium by a mere 0.06m.

Besides the legendary Jan Železný of the Czech Republic, who has held the world record (98.48m) since 1996, Johannes Vetter is the only other javelin thrower in history to have breached the 95m mark.

Johannes Vetter’s throw measuring 97.76m, also a German record, came as recently as in September 2020 at an athletics meet in Chorzów, Poland. He followed it up by winning the Anhalt 2020 and STAF Berlin events on home turf.

Johannes Vetter has been in sensational form in 2021 as well, winning gold medals at Meeting International Javelot and Speerwurfmeeting events in Offenburg, Germany, and the European Throwing Cup in Split, Croatia.

Perhaps more importantly, Johannes Vetter has breached the 90m mark in his last two events, registering 91.50m in the ETSV Stadion during the Speerwurfmeeting and 91.12m at the Stadion Park Mladeži during the European Throwing Cup.

Johannes Vetter’s countryman Thomas Röhler - the Rio 2016 gold medallist - has also breached the Olympic qualification mark of 85m but currently does not feature among the top three throwers from Germany.

With each country allowed to send a maximum of three javelin throwers to Tokyo, the reigning champion’s chances of defending his crown is still up in the air.

However, Johannes Vetter is almost certain to lead the German charge at Tokyo 2020 and the chances of the Olympic men’s javelin throwing gold heading back to the banks of river Rhine are very favourable.

Anderson Peters (Grenada)

Top achievements: World Championships and Pan American Games gold medal in 2019 and Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 2018.

What makes him special? Hailing from the tiny island of Grenada from the southernmost tip of the Antilles archipelago, Anderson Peters shot to fame at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Anderson Peters upset elite throwers like Estonia’s Magnus Kirt – the current world No. 1 – and Johannes Vetter, to claim the top podium finish.

The Usain Bolt fan started his athletics career as a sprinter but bouts with injuries cut his running career short.

After watching fellow Caribbean athlete Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago) win the gold at London 2012, Anderson Peters shifted to javelin throwing. He quickly rose through the ranks, winning multiple age-group events including a bronze medal at the 2016 World U-20 Championships in Poland.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze marked his first major senior triumph and a dream 2019 followed with the world and Pan-American titles.

The past two years saw him win the Developmental Meet in Grenada and the 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, Al Schmidt Bulldog Relays and the USATF Grand Prix in the USA.

Still just 23, Anderson Peters’ personal best of 87.31m at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima – the throw which earned him his ticket to Tokyo – is still short of elite levels. But counting out the reigning world champion at Tokyo can be a grave mistake.

Julius Yego (Kenya)

Top achievements: Silver medal at the Rio 2016, World Championships gold medal in 2015, African Championships gold medals in 2012, 2014 and 2018.

What makes him special? Though Julius Yego hasn’t been active in the international arena since the 2019 World Championships, the Kenyan has a ticket to Tokyo handy courtesy of an 87.73m throw at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco, earlier that year.

The African’s current form heading into Tokyo, thus, is subject to speculation but the Kenyan won his four events prior to the 2019 Doha event.

The 32-year-old Julius Yego, however, has been a serial winner throughout his career, claiming almost every top honour on offer. He also holds the African record (92.7m) in men’s javelin throwing.

An Olympic gold, though, heartbreakingly eluded the Kenyan at Rio. Julius Yego’s 88.24m throw in the first round of the Rio 2016 men’s javelin throwing finals put him in the gold medal position from the get-go.

Unfortunately, an ankle injury during his second throw cut his campaign short.

Unable to compete further, Julius Yego watched on from a wheelchair as Thomas Rohler finally bettered his distance in the fifth round and relegated him to the second position. He had to settle for silver.

The African great, undoubtedly, will have unfinished business at the Olympics and will look to bounce back from the Rio disappointment at Tokyo.

Besides the three, Keshorn Walcott (London 2012 champion and Rio 2016 bronze medallist), Magnus Kirt and Chinese Taipei’s Chao-Tsun Cheng (Asian record-holder) are some of the other top rivals Neeraj Chopra will need to overcome at Tokyo.

Neeraj Chopra’s fellow countryman Shivpal Singh can also put up a stiff challenge.