India's best moments at World Athletics Championships 2025

Amidst a string of disappointments, there were still a few moments of joy for Indian athletes at World Athletics Championships 2025.

For the first time since 2022, India returned from the World Athletics Championships without a medal. A 19-member Indian contingent represented the nation at the multi-discipline event, but only three athletes managed to reach the medal rounds.

India’s biggest medal hope, Neeraj Chopra, the defending champion in men’s javelin throw and a two-time worlds medallist, struggled with injury and finished a disappointing eighth—the lowest he has finished in any javelin competition since 2018.

Other seasoned athletes like Parul Chaudhary, Annu Rani and Murali Sreeshankar also failed to make impact with underwhelming performances.

Also Read: India draw blank at World Athletics Championships 2025, end medal-winning streak

India also had eight debutants in Tokyo, among them Animesh Kujur, the national record holder in both men’s 100m & 200m sprints. However, he too fell short of expectations.

Yet, amidst the setbacks, few Indian athletes stood tall with promising performances—holding their own against the world’s best. Let’s shed light on a few such positive moments from India’s campaign in Tokyo.

India’s best moments at World Athletics Championships 2025

#5 Neeraj Chopra’s qualification throw

While Chopra’s campaign eventually ended in a heartbreak, it didn’t start that way.

He set the standard in qualification round, smashing the automatic qualifying mark with his very first attempt.

Stepping into qualification as the reigning champion, the 27-year-old showed why he’s among the sport’s elite—launching an 84.85m throw to comfortably secure a direct spot in the final.

For a night it echoed memories of Paris Olympics 2024, where Chopra similarly booked his place in the final with his very first attempt in qualification. Also, the defending champion there, Chopra eventually returned with silver from the quadrennial showpiece losing his gold to Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem.

However, it wasn’t to be in Tokyo as Chopra failed to even replicate his qualification form, finishing with a best attempt of 84.03m and ending in eighth place.

Also Read: Five Neeraj Chopra streaks broken by his eighth-place finish at World Athletics Championships

#4 Gulveer Singh’s narrow miss

This is heartbreaking 💔Gulveer Singh missed out on the 5000m final by just one spot, finishing 9th while only the top 8 qualified!!In the last 50m, reigning World Champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen surged past him to snatch the final qualifying spot. pic.twitter.com/UNhrhBrxGL

— nnis Sports (@nnis_sports) September 19, 2025

Gulveer Singh participated in two events (men’s 5,000 and men’s 10,000m), where he currently holds the national record. The 27-year-old did well to finish ninth in his heat with a time of 13:42.34 in the men’s 5,000m, but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final.

Meanwhile, Gulveer had a 16th-place finish in the men’s 10,000m final, where he posted a time of 29:13.33.

#3 Pooja Olla produces her finest performance

Pooja Olla was another athlete who represented India in two events (women’s 800m and women’s 1500m). She returned with her personal best timing of 2:01.03 in the women’s 800m and finished seventh in her heat. However, she failed to advance to the next round.

With a timing of 4:09.52, Pooja ended up in 11th spot in the women’s 1500m event.

Three Indian athletes achieved new Personal Bests at the World Athletics Championships! 🇮🇳🙌Sachin Yadav came the closest to bagging a medal with his career-best throw while Sarvesh Kushare produced moments of history for India.#Athletics pic.twitter.com/DIRLpYDDGM

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) September 20, 2025

#2 Sachin Yadav’s personal best throw

In his debut World Athletics Championships appearance, javelin thrower Sachin Yadav stunned the onlookers with his arm strength. He got past the likes of Julian Weber (86.11m), Neeraj Chopra (84.03m), and Arshad Nadeem (82.75m), who are some legendary names in the sport.

With a best throw of 83.67m in the qualification rounds, Yadav finished sixth and advanced to the final round.

Also Read: Sachin Yadav smashes personal best to finish fourth in men’s javelin final at World Athletics Championships 2025

The first attempt in the final witnessed Sachin return with a personal best throw of 86.27 meters. After a foul in his second throw, Yadav’s remaining four were measured at 85.71m, 84.90m, 85.96m, and 80.95m.

Yadav finished fourth behind the bronze-medal winner Curtis Thompson, whose best attempt was measured 86.67m.

#1 Sarvesh Kushare’s historic jump

High jumper Sarvesh Kushare had an event to remember, despite failing to win a medal at the Japan National Stadium. With a jump of 2.25m in the qualification round, Kushare finished seventh and became the first Indian to reach the World Championships final in the men’s high jump.

Kushare successfully sailed past the 2.28m mark, which is now his personal best jump. After failing to breach 2.31m, Kushare finished sixth in the event—the highest-ever finish by an Indian in the event at the world stage.

His 2.28m jump is also the second highest by an Indian in all-time records, falling short of National Record holder Tejaswin Shankar’s 2.29m mark.

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