Commonwealth Games 2026: Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav, Yash Vir storm into men's javelin final

GLASGOW — Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh, all three Indians, qualified for the men's javelin final at the 2026 Commonwealth Games here on Thursday. Competing in windy conditions, no athlete cleared the automatic qualifying mark of 84.00 m; the Indian trio advanced as the 12 best performers for Friday's final.

Neeraj, who returned to the Games after missing the Birmingham edition due to injury, opted against taking his final attempt after securing qualification in fifth place with a best throw of 79.61m on his second attempt. Rohit also chose not to take his final throw and finished ninth with 78.37m, while Yash Vir Singh was 10th with 78.36m.

A lower back injury has been troubling Neeraj since September 2025. The Olympic and world championships gold medallist sustained a lower back problem shortly before the World Athletics Championships in September last year, where he finished eighth. He made a delayed start to the season and had competed only once in the 2026 season, when he featured in the Doha Diamond League in June, finishing fourth with a throw of 85.69m.

Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage, who holds the world lead of 92.62m this season, topped the qualification standings with a superb throw of 82.84m, adapting best to the challenging weather conditions. Two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada finished second with 81.29m, while South Africa's Douw Smit was third after registering 80.64m.

England's Ben East (80.38m) claimed fourth place ahead of Neeraj, while Australia's Cameron McEntyre (78.91m) was sixth, reigning Olympic champion Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem registered his season best with 78.63m, which he could not better, and qualified for the final with a seventh-place finish in the qualification.

The Bahamas' Keyshawn Strachan (78.60m), Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott (78.26m) and Nigeria's Chinecherem Nnamdi (75.27m) also progressed.