FILE PHOTO: The Olympic and World Championships medallist will make his first public competitive appearance in nearly nine months at the Doha Diamond League on Friday. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

More than six months into the year, India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is finally set to get his 2026 season underway after recovering from a series of injuries that had forced him to delay his return to competition.

The Olympic and World Championships medallist will make his first public competitive appearance in nearly nine months at the Doha Diamond League on Friday, admitting that the back injury he aggravated at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo took longer than expected to heal.

Looking back, Chopra conceded that competing in Tokyo may not have been the right call. He finished a disappointing eighth with a best throw of 84.03m, and later revealed that he had been carrying a lower-back injury into the competition.

“I had some injury before Tokyo. We worked on it and I competed, but I don’t think it was a good decision. I knew I had a problem but I still went ahead because it was the last competition of the season,” Chopra said at a press conference ahead of the Doha meet.

The 28-year-old explained that the recovery process was complicated by a series of niggles affecting different parts of his body.

“As athletes, there is always some niggle we struggle with. We try to save one injury and then feel another one. Then I had something in my ankle and somewhere in the shoulder. I sat with my team and physio and we worked on every part.”

After months away from competition, Chopra said he is finally feeling ready to return.

“We started throwing one-and-a-half months ago and took our time. I spoke to the Doha organisers and asked if I could confirm very late. After my last training session we decided to compete in Doha,” he said.

The long layoff has also coincided with a significant change in Chopra’s coaching setup. He has parted ways with Czech legend and World Record-holder Jan Zelezny after a season together.

Chopra credited Zelezny for helping him achieve one of the biggest milestones of his career — breaking the elusive 90-metre barrier, incidentally at last year’s Doha Diamond League. “Jan Zelezny was a great athlete and a really good coach. We worked on a few specific things and I’m happy that I could break the 90m-mark with him.”

However, Chopra said logistical challenges after the World Championships prompted him to make a change. “After Tokyo, I had to stay in one place for the season and that was not possible for me. So we decided that maybe I need to work with my ideas.”

He has now reunited with long-time mentor Jaiveer Chaudhary and says the focus is on rediscovering the natural rhythm that shaped his early career.

“I’m working on my natural technique. He is my senior and I started javelin with him. We are working on what I had originally when I started. We are not working on anything very specific or very deep. I have a good team around me and I feel very good,” Chopra said.

While much is expected from Chopra, he deflected queries on whether he would be trying to get close to the mark he had thrown at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium last year. “I feel really good and fit. Let’s see how I do tomorrow,” he said.

The lack of expectations might work in his favour. Chopra revealed that the throw which finally took him beyond 90 metres in Doha last year — a mark of 90.23m — was not technically among his best efforts. “Technically, that throw was not that good. It was really fast from the arm but if I had done better with my lower body, that may have added two or three more metres,” he said.

Indeed, Chopra believes some of his finest technical throws have come during qualification rounds at major championships. “I really like my qualification round throws in the Olympics or World Championships because I feel really relaxed and throw far. But in finals, I sometimes try too hard and become too aggressive and then forget my technique,” he said.

Published on Jun 18, 2026