Neeraj Chopra finishes first at Ostrava Golden Spike 2025

Neeraj Chopra won the men’s javelin throw event at the 64th Ostrava Golden Spike, a World Athletics Continental Tour (Gold Level) event, on Tuesday.

Reigning world champion Neeraj finished first courtesy his third-round effort of 85.29m. South Africa’s Douw Smit came second with 84.12m while Grenada’s Anderson Peters stood third with 83.63m.

It was the third victory of the season for the 27-year-old Neeraj.

The Indian, a two-time Olympic medallist, began the competition with a foul throw. He followed it up with an effort of 83.45m before unleashing the throw which helped him take the lead. His fourth, fifth and sixth throws were 82.17m, 81.01m and foul, respectively.

Neeraj’s season started with an invitational meet in Potchefstroom, South Africa, where he won with a throw of 84.52m.

At his Diamond League opener in Doha, he broke the 90m mark for the first time with a throw of 90.23m, bettering his previous best of 89.94m. Despite the milestone, Neeraj finished second to Germany’s Julian Weber, who threw a world-leading 91.06m — also his first 90m+ throw.

After Doha, Neeraj competed at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, where he (84.14m) again finished second to Weber (86.12m).

Neeraj finally beat Weber at the Paris Diamond League on Friday as the Indian topped the field with his opening throw of 88.16m.

Neeraj’s next event will be the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic which will take place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on July 5.

Billed as India’s first-ever international javelin competition, the event is a collaboration between Neeraj Chopra, JSW Sports, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), and World Athletics (WA). It will be the highest-tier international athletics meet ever held in India.