Neeraj Chopra will compete at the 2026 Asian Games, AFI confirms

Neeraj Chopra (Image credit: X) NEW DELHI: Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra will compete at the Asian Games in Japan later this year as he bids to defend his gold medal, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee chairman Adille Sumariwalla confirmed on Saturday.The two-time Olympic medalist has already confirmed his participation in the Commonwealth Games and the AFI has now made it clear that he will also be part of India’s campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from September 19 to October 4.“Will attend both”Sumariwalla said Chopra has recovered well from the lower back injury that delayed the start of his 2026 season.“Yes. (Chopra) will participate in both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. He has already qualified and is recovering. He cleared 86m (85.69m) in his very first event, which is fantastic,” Sumariwalla told PTI.“He won gold with 88m (at the 2022 Asian Games in China), so he’s already close to 86m, then we see no reason why he can’t do well at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.”Chopra made his season debut at the Doha Diamond League where he finished fourth with a best throw of 85.69m after recovering from a lower back injury.A tough challenge awaits themAfter winning gold in Hangzhou in 2023 with a throw of 88.88m, Chopra heads to Japan as the defending champion at the Asian Games.The men’s javelin event is expected to be highly competitive, with Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who broke the 90m mark earlier this year, among the leading contenders. Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem could also be in the field.Focus on reaching the peak at the right timeSumariwalla said the AFI left it up to Chopra and his support staff to decide whether he needed another competition before the Commonwealth Games.“We’ve left it up to him (about competing before the CWG), we’re saying his medical team, his trainer, they’ll all sit down together and work out what are the best competitions he needs to compete,” he said.“The important thing was that he qualified, which he did. Now the important thing is how we push him to the top at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.”India hopes to host the World CupSumariwalla also said India remains in the race to host the 2029 or 2031 World Athletics Championships in Ahmedabad. The country has also bid to host the 2028 Under-20 World Cup.“We submitted bids to host both these championships in Ahmedabad. The team from World Athletics was there in Ahmedabad along with the chairman of the bid committee. They reviewed the infrastructure, assessed the transport, hotels, traffic, weather, food, everything.”“It’s a very tough competition, there’s London who hosted the World Championships and the Olympics, there’s Munich who also hosted the Olympics, there’s Kenya who have had two Junior World Championships so the fight is huge.”“We presented them with our best case scenario and let’s see what happens. The decision on the host city will be taken at the meeting after the World Athletics Championships in Budapest (September 11-13).”AFI believes ahead of the Asian GamesLooking ahead to the Asian Games, Sumariwalla said the federation expects India to perform even better than the previous edition.“From what we can see things are going well, hopefully we should be better than last time.“Whereas the government said sixth and eighth placers (for selection), in most events we take third or fourth places. Yet so many people have qualified, so it just shows the strength on the bench, it just shows that what the AFI is doing is right, that the AFI strategy is working and we’re on the right track.”