By Rishab Vm

Copyright sportskeeda

India’s javelin star Neeraj Chopra faced a rare outcome at the World Athletics Championships 2025 final in Tokyo on Thursday, September 18. He failed to defend his title and also finished eighth, ending the event without a medal. Neeraj Chopra recorded a best throw of 84.03m, which was nowhere near enough to help him secure a podium finish. However, post the final, the 27-year-old revealed that he had not been training enough for two weeks before the event due to a back injury. “Its okay, it’s sports, it’s life. I am seeing something like this after a long time. Normally I handle the situation always but today was a different day. Before coming here while training at Czech Republic, our team and few people knew that I had a problem. I had told the federation that I have a back issue. From the last two weeks I wasn’t training and only rehab was going on. It was looking as though I would not play but w took that call. I thought I would try but I was away from training and was not feeling healthy. But we will accept this, learn from this, and try to do better in the next season,” he told nnis Sports. Further, Neeraj revealed that the weather also caused some problems as he struggled to grip the javelin well due to the rain. He added that the injury affected his technique, which in turn affected his game overall. The Indian star had won the gold at the World Athletics Championships 2023 and was the defending champion heading into the 2025 edition. “It also rained and I could not grip properly. The runway was wet too. We cannot predict these things. I was also moving a lot to my left in order to save my back so I could not get the right direction. The coach was just telling me to look at my runway because it was not the time to look at changing technique really.”It was the first time in seven years that Neeraj Chopra did not bag a podium finish in an international event. He also appeared disappointed with the result and was seen letting out a roar after his exit. Neeraj Chopra praises Sachin Yadav after the finalNeeraj Chopra was not the lone Indian in action during the World Athletics Championships 2025 final. India’s next rising javelin star, Sachin Yadav, not only impressed but also left Neeraj behind in the final. Sachin Yadav stunned everyone with an unexpected throw of 86.27m, which was also his personal best. He was close to a podium finish but fell short and finished fourth eventually. Nonetheless, he put up a brilliant performance while competing alongside some big names in the final. Neeraj praised the upcoming star for his display. He said: “I am very happy for Sachin. I thought India would get a medal. But it’s okay. At such a big platform he put in many good throws. I am very happy that javelin will be very good in the coming times for us.” (via the aforementioned source)Notably, Sachin has a silver at the Asian Championships and a gold medal at the 38th National Games in Dehradun. He also took part in the recent Neeraj Chopra Classic and finished fourth.