Indian javelin throwers to cross 80m mark in 2023

Published at :September 5, 2023 at 7:07 PM

Modified at :February 18, 2024 at 8:47 AM

Three athletes finished inside the top 6 in the World Athletics Championships.

India’s poster boy Neeraj Chopra clinched the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships 2023 after recording a best attempt of 88.17m in the finals. With this feat, he also became the first Indian to win two medals at the World Athletics Championships. The 25-year-old is the torch-bearer of Indian athletics and has inspired a lot of youngsters to take up the Javelin Throw as a career.

Many of those have already started seeing success in their short careers, with some of them hoping to emulate or even come close to achieving what the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist has in his career. While Neeraj Chopra has been consistently throwing around 87-88m marks, he is chasing the so-far elusive 90m record throw.

As for the rest of the Indians, going beyond the 80m mark is a huge success, and why should it not be when only 43 in the world have been able to do so in 2023 so far? Of the 43 to have achieved the feat, six are from India, which means every seventh athlete to have thrown the javelin beyond the 80m mark is an Indian.

We take a look at the names of the list of Indian javelin throw athletes to have gone beyond the 80m mark in 2023:

Sachin Yadav

PB: 80.27m | SB: 80.27m

The only athlete to have gone beyond the 80m mark only once in his career, Sachin Yadav is another one to watch out for in the future. The 23-year-old’s PB came in the National Federation Cup in May where his 80.27m effort was enough to see him finish on the podium. Sachin’s second-best throw is around the 76m mark, and so he will have to do a lot of growing to be consistently among the top Javelin Throwers in the country.

Shivpal Singh

PB: 86.23m | SB: 81.96m

Just when many thought that the best days of Shivpal Singh were behind him, he went past the 80m mark and showed the world that he still has it in him to compete at the highest level. The 27-year-old has had troubles in the recent past with doping allegations and suspensions, but the veteran would want to look beyond those experiences and try to reach the levels he had achieved in 2019 and 2020.

Rohit Yadav

PB: 83.40m | SB: 83.40m

Rohit Yadav is another consistent performer in the Javelin Throw event from India. Rohit is six months younger than DP Manu but isn’t very far from the Army athlete in terms of talent. He achieved his PB this year at the National Federation Cup in May.

He came very close to the mark again in June at the Indian Championships in Bhubaneshwar. Rohit played in the World Athletics Championships last year but unfortunately had to miss out from the competition this year due to an injury.

DP Manu

PB: 84.35m | SB: 84.33m

**Manu DP finished inside the top 6 at the World Championships (Courtesy: Sporstar – The Hindu)**

DP Manu is the next best javelin throw athlete from India on paper. His PB and SB have both been beyond the 84m mark and adding a couple of meters more in his throw will put him into the elites of the Javelin Throw competition. His best throw this year came at the Indian Grand Prix, where he went as far as 84.33m.

Manu has 80m+ throws in four competitions in 2023, which shows how consistent the athlete has been. Shortlisted in the TOPS scheme, the Army athlete will be put under training programs abroad, and thus will hopefully further develop his game.

Kishore Kumar Jena

PB: 84.77m | SB: 84.77m

The 27-year-old Kishore Kumar Jena has been on the rise for the past few months. He recently finished fifth at the World Athletics Championships after securing a personal best mark ahead of compatriot Manu DP. Ahead of the World Championships, he recorded a previous PB at the 101st Sri Lankan Championships, bettering his record at the Inter-States in Bhubaneshwar in June when he threw as far as 82.87m, helping him finish third behind Rohit Yadav and DP Manu.

Neeraj Chopra

PB: 89.94m | SB: 88.77m

There isn’t anything more to be said about the greatness of Neeraj. The man with the golden arm from Haryana is easily the most dominant athlete India has ever produced. And he has dominated world events in a fashion that only once in a generation athletes have done. Neeraj is the Fred Kerley, the Ryan Crouser, or the Pedro Pichardo, the Armand Duplantis of Javelin Throw. He has finished on the podium in every tournament he has participated in since his Olympics gold.