Neeraj Chopra to compete at Paavo Nurmi Games 2024 in June

This is likely to be Neeraj Chopra’s second event in the 2024 season after the Doha DL.

Neeraj Chopra, Olympics and World Champion, has affirmed his participation at the upcoming 2024 Paavo Nurmi Games, which is scheduled for June 18 in Turku, Finland. The World Athletics Continental Tour Gold level event is likely to be the second competition that Chopra will compete in after the Doha leg of the Diamond League.

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Chopra, who has been out of competition since the Asian Games in October last year, will begin his 2024 calendar at the Doha Diamond League on May 10 which will be followed by his second event at the Turku meet in Finland.

Olympic champion @Neeraj_chopra1 returns to Turku in June and will face a high-quality field of competitors. The goal is to host the most competitive javelin competition of the summer before the Paris Olympics. #ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/qdEnKV3aPH

— Paavo Nurmi Games (@paavonurmigames) April 10, 2024

The Paavo Nurmi Games is Finland’s premier summer track and field competition since 1957 and is renowned as a Continental Tour Gold meet which ranks among the top-tier events recognized by World Athletics.

It is named after the legendary Finnish runner, Paavo Nurmi who was known as the Flying Finn. He amassed an impressive tally of nine gold and three silver Olympic medals from 1920 to 1928. Therefore, the event pays homage to his enduring legacy.

Scheduled annually in Turku, the meet will showcase not only the Indian ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra but also other esteemed javelin throwers from across the globe. Apart from Chopra, Germany’s Julian Weber and Max Dehning will also be participating with the organisers aiming to make the event the “toughest javelin competition of the summer before the Paris Olympics”.

Neeraj Chopra last competed at the event in 2022 where he secured the silver medal and also set the then national record (NR) with an 89.30m throw. In 2023, Neeraj Chopra was unable to participate in the Paavo Nurmi Games athletics meet due to injury.

Chopra has since improved his personal best and the NR with an 89.94m throw at the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League.

Last year, he retained his gold medal at the Asian Games and also became a World Champion after clinching gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with an 88.17m throw. He followed it with an 88,88m throw at the Hangzhou Asian Games to defend his gold medal.

Chopra is also the reigning winner in the Doha leg of the Diamond League, having won the previous edition of the Doha DL.

Th Doha DL and the Paavo Nurmi Games will provide the 26-year-old an opportunity to assess his preparation for Paris Olympics as he will compete against the world’s leading athletes.

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