New Delhi: India can have a maximum of four javelin throwers at the world championships in Tokyo but only reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra is a confirmed starter. No Indian thrower has so far been able to breach the qualification mark of 85.50m. Besides Neeraj, only Sachin Yadav, who has shown impressive form this season, is in the race to make the cut through world rankings (top 36 qualify).

At the ongoing National Federation Cup in Kochi, Sachin won gold with a throw of 83.86m. The only other thrower who touched 80m was Yashvir Singh (80.85m). This, despite the fact that six throwers in the final on Monday had earlier crossed the 80m mark during the last three seasons.

New Delhi: India can have a maximum of four javelin throwers at the world championships in Tokyo but only reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra is a confirmed starter. No Indian thrower has so far been able to breach the qualification mark of 85.50m. Besides Neeraj, only Sachin Yadav, who has shown impressive form this season, is in the race to make the cut through world rankings (top 36 qualify).

At the ongoing National Federation Cup in Kochi, Sachin won gold with a throw of 83.86m. The only other thrower who touched 80m was Yashvir Singh (80.85m). This, despite the fact that six throwers in the final on Monday had earlier crossed the 80m mark during the last three seasons.

Though it is still early into the season, throwers have struggled to go past 80m mark. At the Indian Open Throws Competition in March, seasoned Rohit Yadav, who has regularly gone past well beyond 80m in earlier seasons, took the first place with just a 78.87m throw. Yashvir’s 77.49m was enough for a top spot in India Open Athletics meet in Chennai.

Contrast this with performances in previous few years, when Neeraj Chopra’s stellar rise at the world level led to a javelin boom. Three Indian throwers competed at the 2023 world championships final and the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games saw the memorable duel between Neeraj and Kishore Jena for gold and silver.

Jena competed in Paris Olympics too, and is now coming back after an ankle surgery. His form had dipped post the Asian Games high when he threw 87.54m. Having undergone surgery in October, Jena is taking small strides in his comeback. He has competed in two events this month with 77.82m coming in Fed Cup on Monday.

“Kishore was competing in his second event. He competed less than a week before (India Open meet) to qualify for the Federation Cup. The two events meets were good measuring sticks for us to see where he is in his return from the injury and he is progressing well,” says Steve Lemke, Throws Coach at Reliance Foundation in Mumbai, where Jena currently trains.

His first big international competition will be Doha Diamond League meet on May 16. “You know, we weren’t expecting him to throw big in April because it has taken time to recover from the surgery and the injury. But he’s heading in the right direction. So, we’re very excited to see what the season holds for him. The big goal for the year for is ultimately to be at the World Championships in September in Japan,” said Lemke.

Qualifying for the Worlds will be on the wishlist of most throwers, and it remains to be seen how they push for big throws going deep into the season. There is still time (August 25 is the cut-off date) for them to go all out.

The Asian Championships, where two Indians will be selected based on Federation Cup result (seven achieved qualifying mark of 75.36m), Neeraj Chopra Classic, World Athletics Continental Tour event in Bhubaneshwar and Inter-State meet in August will be opportunities for them to make a mark.

“I think we’ll see more and more big throws as the season goes along. In reality, it’s still very early in the season,” says Steve.

“In 2023, there were three throwers in the final of the World Championship and then top two at the Asian Games, it was a great year. I think it’s more of a one-off thing. In 2024, India had 10 javelins throwers who had touched 80 or close to 80m (seven crossed 80m). It was hard to reproduce that for next year. But I think that will definitely happen again.”

“There’s new people coming up and pushing the older javelin throwers and all this is thanks to Neeraj Chopra. It’s been a great thing that he’s done for the country.

“Javelin remains a very strong event in India. At the Federation Cup, the top seven people made the qualifying distance for Asian Championships. That just shows, you know, the depth of the event still is very strong in India,” said Steve.

There is also a change in the domestic structure with Athletics Federation of India doing away with long duration camps, which will now happen only before major international competitions.

Instead SAI’s National Centre of Excellence, Patiala, now serves as a camp for javelin throwers. AFI has appointed Russian Sergey Makarov as javelin coach. Throwers can choose to train under him, or with their departments and academies. Steve, for example, is looking after some young talents in Reliance Foundation. Sachin, who represents Police Sports Control, is training at the JLN Stadium under his personal coach.

Former international Samarjeet Singh Malhi, who contributed to Kishore’s rise as a national coach in camp, says it all depends on how you prepare the thrower towards peaking. “There’s lot of that has to come together for a good throw and consistent performance. You have to prepare the body first to develop strength to take load. It took us one and half years of preparation for Kishore to get to that kind of form,” he says.

Indian throwers can learn from Neeraj when it comes to consistency. The world champion may have not crossed 90m yet but has been incredibly consistent in 87-89m mark, which he has produces regardless of the weather. For that they will have to stay injury free.