Sachin Yadav, an up-and-coming Indian javelin thrower, had the finest result of his career at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where he came in fourth with a throw of 86.27m. He almost lost out on a medal, but his impressive performance was a big step forward in his career.
But the focus was on Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic and world champion, who had a terrible day and only managed to throw 84.03m, finishing eighth. This was his first time outside the top two in 26 tournaments.
Sachin told ANI that he was satisfied with how he played: “I feel very happy with my performance.” It wasn’t like I beat Neeraj; he was hurt. He was hurt and could have thrown better. I was in a competition with myself. I wasn’t attempting to beat someone else; I was trying to beat myself and compete with myself.
The 25-year-old said it was strange to see Neeraj leave the stage: “I felt strange.” I had never seen him out of the podium before. I felt horrible. I called him and told him I was sorry you weren’t on the podium. He said, “It’s okay; it’s sports; things happen.”
Uwe Hohn, Neeraj’s old coach and the only athlete to throw a javelin more than 100 meters, recently lauded Sachin, saying, “Sachin could throw up to 95 meters and dominate the sport like him and Jan Zelezny (Neeraj’s current coach).”
Sachin stated in response to the comment, “If such a big thrower is saying this about me, it makes me proud.” “I’m doing my best.”
Sachin said that his coach and federation will plan his approach for the Asian Games 2026. He also talked about how the competition in India’s javelin scene is getting tougher: “There is a lot of competition in javelin.” The kids are doing fantastic work. Neeraj set a goal for us that is close to 90, and you all need to go beyond that. It is up to us to go much beyond than the mark.
India’s effort at the Championships ended with race walker Servin Sebastian, who came in 31st out of 48 men in the men’s 20km race walk (1:23:03).
India didn’t win a medal this year, even though some of their athletes did well. For example, Sarvesh Kushare made it to the men’s high jump final and finished sixth with a personal best of 2.28m, while Pooja ran the women’s 800m with her best time of 2:01.03.
In the past, India has only won three medals at the World Athletics Championships. Anju Bobby George won the first bronze medal in long jump in 2003. Neeraj Chopra won the second in 2022 and the first gold medal in Budapest in 2023.