Neeraj Chopra, the reigning world champion and Tokyo 2020 gold medallist, has been named the best javelin thrower of 2024 by Track and Field News, a US-based sports magazine.
The 27-year-old Indian athlete earned the honour after a season marked by remarkable consistency.
Competing in six events, Chopra secured two wins and four runner-up finishes, maintaining a place inside the top two throughout the year.
Chopra began his 2024 campaign in May at the Doha Diamond League, where he achieved an 88.36m throw to finish second behind Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia.
He went on to win the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland and the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition in India.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Chopra claimed silver with a throw of 89.45m, finishing behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who set an Olympic record of 92.97m.
Later in the year, Chopra recorded his career’s second-best throw of 89.49m at the Lausanne Diamond League before wrapping up his season with another second-place finish in Brussels, where Anderson Peters of Grenada outperformed him.
Despite Nadeem’s record-breaking Olympic performance, Track and Field News ranked him sixth, citing his limited participation in international competitions—just two events—as a key factor. Peters, the Paris 2024 bronze medallist, was placed second in the standings.
Chopra, who won the world championship earlier in 2024, will focus on defending his title in Tokyo this year. He also aims to breach the elusive 90m mark, a milestone that has so far eluded him.
His 2025 season is expected to include appearances in the Diamond League series.
