Neeraj Chopra, along with Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh, has qualified for the men’s javelin throw final at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Former Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra began his campaign at the 2026 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 76.28 meters in the first round. In his second attempt, Neeraj threw the javelin a distance of 79.61 meters. With this best throw of 79.61 meters, Chopra secured fifth place and advanced to the final. Alongside Neeraj Chopra, India’s Rohit Yadav (78.37 meters) and Yashvir Singh (78.36 meters) also delivered impressive performances, finishing ninth and tenth respectively to qualify for the final.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem could not improve upon his initial attempt but advanced by finishing seventh with a throw of 78.63 meters. In the qualifying round, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage topped the list with a throw of 82.84 meters, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters (81.29 meters), South Africa’s Douw Smit (80.64 meters), and England’s Ben East (80.38 meters) secured the second, third, and fourth positions, respectively. Additionally, Australia’s Cameron McEntyre (78.91 meters – 6th), Bahamas’ Keyshawn Strachan (78.60 meters – 8th), Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott (78.26 meters – 11th), and Nigeria’s Chinecherem Nnamdi (75.27 meters – 12th) also made it to the list of the top 12 athletes, thereby qualifying for the medal round.
Neeraj is competing in the Commonwealth Games after 8 years.
Neeraj Chopra is making a comeback to the Commonwealth Games after a long hiatus of eight years. He last competed in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where he won the gold medal with an impressive throw of 86.47 meters. However, he was unable to participate in the 2022 Birmingham Games due to injury. For the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the automatic qualification mark to reach the final was set at 84 meters. Each athlete was given three attempts in the qualifying round.