India's most promising medal prospect Neeraj Chopra is set to return to action. He will be up against reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka in a marquee men's javelin clash. Chopra won the gold in the commonwealth championships last year, while he missed the 2022 CWG in Birmingham. In 2018, he had won the gold medal in Gold Coast.
The standard javelin weight is 800g (1.8lbs) for men. The javelin must be at least 260cm (102.4in) in length. While Neeraj used the Nemeth at the Tokyo Olympics, he has switched it with the one known as the Nordic Valhalla back in 2021.
The two javelins differ in the nature of their composition with the Nordic boasting of a higher proportion of carbon fibre. It's pointed tip is better at landing, which might have prompted the change. The Valhalla branding can be spotted on his javelin in pictures posted on Instagram.
On the Nordic Sport website, the 800g javelin, costs a massive €1,311.25. As per current conversion rates, that would come up to about ₹1,42,717. The javelins are made to order and "are aerodynamically designed from scratch for maximum glide," it says on the website.
Neeraj Chopra event details
The men's javelin throw qualification will begin on Thursday, June 30. Neeraj Chopra is in Group A, and the event is scheduled to be held at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. The event is scheduled to begin at 2:55 PM IST.
He will go up against Arshad Nadeem and Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage. In the mix will be India's Rohit Yadav, who, in fact, is in the second spot among Commonwealth season leaders with his 87.05m last month. He is also a medal contender. Yashvir Singh is the third Indian in the fray.
