India will be represented by a total of 19 athletes at the World Athletics Championships

India will have the largest number of athletes in the men’s javelin throw event among all participating nations at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Neeraj Chopra will lead a four-man team and apart of him are three other rising javelin throwers – Sachin Yadav, Yash Vir Singh and Rohit Yadav.

India will be represented by a total of 19 athletes at the championships, which will be held from September 13-21.

Rohit Yadav, who was not initially among the 36 athletes who qualified for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, was invited by World Athletics after higher-ranked athletes withdrew.

The last edition in 2023 also saw four Indians to qualify for the men’s javelin throw, but Rohit Yadav was forced to withdraw due to injury. In Budapest in 2023, Neeraj Chopra won gold while Kishore Jena and D. P. Manu finished fifth and sixth respectively, making three Indians reach the final of the men’s javelin throw – a historic feat.

This is the first time that four Indians will compete in the same event at the World Championships. Neeraj Chopra qualified as a wildcard as the reigning champion, opening the door for three more of his countrymen to join.

Each country can have a maximum of three participants in an event, but the number can increase to four if one of the athletes qualifies as a wildcard.

Neeraj Chopra also cleared the direct qualification standard of 85.50m, while the other three Indians qualified through world rankings.

“I am particularly happy that we have four qualified javelin throwers. We hope that this time too all of them will reach the finals”, said the Athletics Federation of India spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla said during a virtual press conference. “Last time too there were four, but Rohit Yadav was injured and could not participate. And we had all the others in the final, in the top six”, added he.