Neeraj Chopra Dethrones Anderson Peters, Back To World No. 1 Spot In Javelin Throw Rankings
Indian world champion and Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra reclaimed his number one spot in men's javelin throw world rankings from Anderson Peters of Grenada following a string of brilliant performances on the international stage.
World Athletics updated the rankings earlier this week, increasing Neeraj's points to 1,445 compared to Peters' tally of 1,431, according to Olympics.com. Also, Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem sits at number four with 1,370 points to his name.
Germany's Julian Weber, who has the best throw of 2025 so far, a 91.06 effort at the Doha Diamond League, is third in the rankings, and Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, is in fifth spot, completing a very impressive-looking top five.
Neeraj lost his top spot to Peters back in September 2024, just shortly after the Paris Olympics, where he attained a silver medal with a throw of 89.45, and Peters took home the bronze.
The year 2025 has been incredible for Neeraj, as he kicked off with a win at the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April and followed it up with a very special second-place finish at Doha Diamond League, where he crossed the 90-metre mark for the first time with a throw of 90.23 m.
He also went on to secure a second spot in the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland later that month and resumed his winning ways with back-to-back titles at Paris Diamond League and Ostrava Golden Spike this month, with best efforts of 88.16 m and 85.29 m.
Neeraj has outdone Peters in all four battles this year, extending his streak over his Grenada rival. The last time he finished behind him was during the 2022 World Athletics Championships, when Neeraj had to settle for a silver with a throw of 88.39, as Peters threw a solid 89.91 m.
Overall, the Tokyo 2020 Gold medalist leads Peters by 16-5 in major javelin throw competition finals. Both are expected for another face-off at the Neeraj Chopra Classic event at Bengaluru on July 5.
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