Neeraj Chopra will headline the Indian contingent at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest, Hungary from August 19 to 27.
Neeraj Chopra qualified for Budapest 23 at the Lausanne Diamond League last year when he met the entry standard of 85.20m with a throw of 89.08m. However, the Indian javelin ace made the cut for the world championships as a wild card, as he is the reigning Diamond League champion.
Race walker Ram Baboo, meanwhile, became the first Indian athlete to qualify for the World Athletics Championships 2023 via the world ranking route earlier this year. Ajay Kumar Saroj, meanwhile, made the list as an Area champion, earned after his win at the Asian Atheltics Championships in July.
In all, 28 Indians qualfied for the World Athletics Championships 2023, up from 23 at Eugene last year.
However, javelin thrower Rohit Yadav (elbow) and shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor (groin) will miss the world championships due to injury. Additionally, high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, race walker Priyanka Goswami and middle-distance runner KM Chanda have opted to skip the meet to focus on Asian Games 2023.
Of the 28 Indian athletes at the world championships, nine made the cut via entry standards while 16 qualified via world rankings. Shaili Singh, the youngest member of the contingent at 19, will be among the 15 debutants at the meet.
Athletes and teams qualifed for Budapest 23 in three ways. They met the world athletics championships qualifying standards at a sanctioned event within the specified qualification window. Athletes made the cut through world rankings, as it stood at the end of the qualification period and they also qualified through finishing positions at particular events over the course of the qualification window.
Each country can send a maximum of three qualified athletes – one qualified team in case of relay teams – per event at the World Athletics Championships 2023. Wild card entries, reserved only for reigning world champions and winners of select high-priority athletics events from last year, are also allowed.
India have won only two medals at the World Athletics Championships. Anju Bobby George won a bronze in the women’s long jump in Paris in 2003 while Neeraj Chopra won a silver in the javelin throw last year in Eugene.
Indians qualified for World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023
*Out due to injury
**Opted to skip
†Withdrawn