Nine months after he’d relinquished the spot, Neeraj Chopra reclaimed the world number 1 rank in men’s javelin throw, according to the latest World Athletics ranking update.
The reigning world champion climbed to the top of the ladder with 1445 ranking points, ahead of Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who is second with 1431 points. Neeraj’s world number 1 ranking comes days before the first-ever NC Classic on July 5, a tournament he has envisaged to popularise the sport in India by bringing down top throwers for a one-day competition.
Germany’s Julian Weber, who holds the world-leading throw of 2025 with a 91.06m effort at the Doha Diamond League, is third in the rankings while Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan is fourth in the world rankings with 1370 points to his name. Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, completes the top five.
Neeraj had lost the top spot to Peters in September 2024, a month after the Paris Olympics where he’d won a silver medal to add to his gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj had complained of a nagging injury back then, which he said was impacting his performances.
In 2025, however, he returned ‘completely fit’ and has been consistently good in all competitions so far. Neeraj began the year with a win at the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April and followed it up with a second-place finish at the Doha Diamond League in May, where he recorded a new national record of 90.23m. Crucially, however, he entered the coveted 90m club.
He came second again at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland later that month but returned to winning ways at the Paris Diamond League in June with an 88.16m effort. Neeraj also added the Ostrava Golden Spike title to his name earlier this week.
At all those events, Neeraj finished ahead of Peters. However, he is yet to face off against Nadeem this year. That showdown is likely to take place at the World Championships in September.
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