Commonwealth Games 2026: Cautious Chopra still two good!

India’s Neeraj Chopra during the javelin throw final in Glasgow on Friday. Pics/PTI

Neeraj Chopra, India's greatest athlete, is confronting sporting mortality, trying hard to keep the fire burning. Indian fans won't like this, but the fact is that at 28, and with waves of young challengers coming through, Chopra is unlikely to regain the glory of his heyday.

Last night, in the final of the men's javelin gold medal contest at the Commonwealth Games, Chopra's second throw was a very good 85.83 metres, on yet another cold, breezy night at the Scotstoun Stadium. With it, Chopra jumped right to the top of the standings with his season's best throw.

‘I had mixed feelings'

But, returning from his lower back injury, his mind was plagued by doubt, he said: "After injury, you think hard before every step… Today too there was some fear in my mind… Sometimes I was thinking maybe I should run fully fast, sometimes I was thinking I must keep within myself because of the weather conditions. So, I had mixed feelings as I competed."

Bronze-winner Yashvir Singh during the javelin final

Chopra threw his challenge at 8.32 pm. A few minutes later, Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, was sprinting down the runway. The 23-year-old threw the spear with a mighty effort and let out a roar - 89.75m. Chopra's lead had lasted barely eight minutes.

Olympic champ Nadeem flops

No one else was going to touch Pathirage's 89.75m - not a Chopra coming back from injury, and certainly not the mercurial Nadeem Arshad, the reigning Olympics champion, who threw a best of just 77.41m, failing to qualify for the final round. While Chopra settled for silver, India's Yashvir Singh, 24, fetched a surprise bronze on his last throw of 85.41m, which was also his personal best.

The crowd at the venue, many of whom were Chopra partisans and some who had travelled from India to urge him on, went ballistic every time he ran forward with his spear; Chopra tried and tried, but he couldn't better 89.75m. He has gone farther only twice in the past.

"Rumesh had a very good throw. I was trying too. But I'm gradually trying to get back to my rhythm. I am getting the hang of it [after injury]. I don't do very well in cold - I'm Indian, you know," said Chopra. "I can't say I'm as fit as I was before my injury. Slowly, I'm coming back to that level again. My effort is to get my rhythm back, too. Hope that will happen in the championships in the rest of the season," he added.