Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has continued his fine form this season as he emerged victorious at the Golden Spike Meet in Ostrava Czech Republic on Sunday, June 24. Neeraj won the event with a best throw of 85.29m. The win in Ostrava was his second victory this week. The reigning World Champion was first at the Paris Diamond League meet on June 20 with a best effort of 88.16m.
It is the first time that Neeraj has won the Golden Spike Meet which is a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event. Jan Železný, Neeraj Chopra’s coach since last year, has won the Golden Spike Meet nine times in his career. Železný is a legend in javelin throw. His resume boasts of a hat-trick of gold medals at the Olympics which he won at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympic Games, and also three World Championship golds.
At Ostrava, Neeraj pipped South Africa’s Douw Smit to claim the top spot. Douw’s best throw of the meet measured 84.12m. Two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada was third with his opening attempt of 83.63m.
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Neeraj Chopra’s 2025 so far
The two-time Olympic medalist began his season in April in South Africa with an appearance in Potch Invitational Meet. He won the meet with a best attempt of 84.52m.
Exactly a month later on May 16 came one of the biggest moment of Neeraj’s storied career. Competing at the Doha Diamond League, Neeraj breached the 90m mark for the first time in his career. His best throw in Qatar was 90.23m. The moment though turned to be a bitter-sweet for him as he finished second behind Germany’s Julian Webber who managed a distance of 91.06m there.
Neeraj backed his performance in Qatar with another second-place finish, this time at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial event in Poland. There his best effort measured 84.14m and it was Webber who yet again beat him for the top spot.
The Tokyo Olympic gold medalist bounced back from back-to-back second-place finishes by winning the Paris Diamond League.
Neeraj will now head to India to participate in the inaugural NC Classic which will take place in Bengaluru on July 5. NC Classic is a prestigious javelin throw event named after the Indian Olympic champion.The World Athletics has categorized it as a class “A” event or a Continental Tour Gold-level meet, the highest level of international athletics competition. The event has attracted the participation of several top-level international athletes.
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk
