June 25, India On Tuesday, Neeraj Chopra, the reigning world champion, competed in his first ever competition at the Ostrava Golden Spike Meet, which is a World Athletics Continental Tour event at the Gold level. Four days prior, he won the Paris Diamond League with a throw of 88.16 meters.

Chopra, a two-time Olympic medalist, won the event with his best throw of 85.29 meters, which was followed by Douw Smit of South Africa's personal best of 84.12 meters and Anderson Peters of Grenada's subpar 83.63 meters.

The reigning world champion began the competition with a foul, but his next attempt earned him an 83.45m score, placing him third behind Smit and Peters' initial throw of 83.63m. Chopra subsequently increased his score to 85.29m to take the lead, which he maintained throughout the remainder of the event.

Chopra, who was coached by local legend Jan Zelezny, didn't seem to put in much effort and seemed unconcerned by the majority of his throws. Zelezny also served as the tournament director for the event and quietly observed the proceedings from the sidelines. His four legitimate tosses had the following sequence: 83.45m, 85.29m, 82.17m, and 81.01m. The two-time Olympic champion made sure he had done enough to keep his remarkable consistency, even though the series wasn't what one would have anticipated from Chopra.

Chopra had athletes who could challenge him in Rio Olympics winner Thomas Rohler and Paris Games bronze medalist Peters, even though the nine-man tournament was obviously not of the same caliber as the star-studded field that appeared in Paris last week. Rohler, who has been on the sidelines for some time, could only manage a best of 79.18m to come in seventh place, although Peters did falter a little.

In the course of three months, this was Chopra's fifth competition. Prior to competing in Doha, Poland, Paris, and Ostrava, he had began the season by taking first place at the Potch Invitational Meet in April.

Julian Weber of Germany, the defending champion and the guy who defeated Chopra twice this year, and Jakub Vadlejch, the local hero who came in second in 2024, were both absent from this competition.

Last month at the Doha Diamond League, Chopra broke the 90-meter barrier with a throw of 90.23 meters, which was just behind Weber's 91.06 meters. Chopra arrived a week later in Poland at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, where he placed second to Weber, who threw 86.12m, with a score of 84.14m.

With his opening throw of the night, Chopra won the top place at the Paris leg of the Diamond League, a competition where five of the eight participants had thrown 90 meters or more, while Weber came in second.

The next competition for the poster boy of Indian athletics will be at the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5, which will showcase some of the finest javelin talent from throughout the world.

The 27-year-old had stated that his main goal for the year was to defend his World Championships title in Tokyo this September, speaking in advance of the event.

"I'm so pleased to be working with such a terrific athlete and coach. After a little bit more progress in my technique, I have already thrown 90 meters this year. Therefore, I'm prepared, but let's see when the next time is," he had remarked.

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