Olympic and World Championships gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has withdrawn from the Ostrava Golden Spike 2024 athletics meet in the Czech Republic due to an injury. Chopra sustained an adductor muscle injury during training a few weeks ago, leading to his decision to pull out of the event.
Despite his withdrawal, the Indian javelin thrower will attend the 63rd edition of the annual athletics competition on Tuesday as a guest. The event organizers have replaced Chopra with Germany's Julian Weber. The men's javelin throw lineup in Ostrava will also include home favorite Jakub Vadlejch, the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist and reigning Diamond League and Golden Spike champion, along with former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.
This is the second consecutive year that Chopra has had to withdraw from the Ostrava Golden Spike due to an injury. He was also scheduled to compete last year but was unable to participate because of a muscle injury. The Ostrava meet was supposed to be Chopra's third competitive event of the season.
Chopra began his season at the Doha Diamond League on May 11, finishing in second place with a throw of 88.36 meters. Recently, he competed in the Federation Cup athletics meet in Bhubaneswar, where he won the gold medal with a throw of 82.27 meters, his first competitive outing in India since 2021.
Next, Neeraj Chopra is slated to compete in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 18.
