Neeraj Chopra rises to world No. 2 after historic Tokyo Olympics gold

Neeraj Chopra has climbed to world No. 2 in the latest men’s javelin throw rankings after his gold-winning feat at the Tokyo Olympics.

This is the 23-year-old Neeraj Chopra’s career-best ranking. The Indian athlete was ranked world No. 16 prior to the Summer Games.

Neeraj Chopra made history by winning independent India’s first-ever track-and-field Olympic medal at Tokyo 2020. Chopra became only the second individual Olympic gold-medallist for the country after shooter Abhinav Bindra.

Neeraj threw the spear at a distance of 87.58m to win the Olympic gold. Interestingly, his second-best throw (87.03m) in the final would also have won him the gold.

The only athlete who sits above Neeraj Chopra in the world rankings is Germany’s Johannes Vetter. Considered the favourite for gold, Vetter could only finish ninth in the men’s javelin throw final at the Tokyo Olympics.

India’s Shivpal Singh, meanwhile, dropped down two spots to be ranked world No. 20. Shivpal Singh also made his Olympic debut in Tokyo but was unable to make the final.

Rohit Yadav (world No. 56), Yashvir Singh (world No. 63) and DP Manu (world No. 84) are the other Indians in the top-100 of the men’s javelin throw.

The women’s national record holder in javelin, Annu Rani, is currently ranked world No. 16. She made her Olympics debut at Tokyo 2020 but did not qualify for the final.