Love for Sudoku and inspiration from Rohler & Neeraj — How Netherlands’ Noelle Roorda clinched the para javelin World title

As she waited in the call room of her event at the start of the women’s javelin throw competition at the 2025 Para Athletics World Championships in New Delhi on Saturday, Noelle Roorda felt the nerves creeping up on her. She didn’t like it.

Although she came into the competition ranked World No. 1 in the women’s F46 event—for athletes with a limb disability below the elbow—pressure does funny things which the Dutch javelin thrower well knows.

The 25-year-old had been ranked World No. 1 last year as well going into the Paris Olympics when the pressure “of competing in front of 80000 people” took it’s toll. She had gone to the competition expecting to improve on her silver medal from the Tokyo Paralympics but eventually finished 4th, missing out on the podium by just 1 centimetre.

So when she felt the moment was getting the better of her at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Roorda knew she had to de-stress. “I have a book of sudoku puzzles. I took that out and started solving a puzzle. I was so nervous that when I was writing a number, I was shaking, but I kept thinking ‘God! Let me stay focussed,’” she told Sportstar later.

The unorthodox technique worked. By the end of the competition, Roorda improved her personal best two times. Her best throw of the morning – 43.74m – was enough to win gold, her first at the World Championships.

Apart from a penchant for pre-event Sudoku, Roorda has a love of mathematics — the trajectory of the javelin in flight is one of the reasons she picked up the sport, and now she is studying the subject as a way to relax between training sessions. She even has the formula s = v x t (distance = velocity x time) tattooed on her tricep.

Thomas Rohler fan

For Roorda, becoming a World champion is special in more ways than one. It’s the one major medal that has eluded her role model – Rio Olympic champion Thomas Rohler.

“That’s what makes this so special!” grins Roorda, sticking her arms up in triumph. The celebration is only mock serious but Rohler’s been her idol for a long time.

Growing up in the Netherlands, Roorda had never considered a career in para athletics. “I played tennis and football as a child and I always played against athletes who didn’t have a disability,” she said. Para sports came by chance. “There’s one day every year in Netherlands where children get to try out different para sports. I started out competing in the sprint and long jump but found I didn’t have any talent in either. But then I tried out javelin and I fell in love with it,” she said.

“When you throw the javelin, you can see your performance in how it flies. I throw and I just stand and see my own work and that’s the cool thing about javelin throw,” she says.

Roorda started the sport in 2019 and less than a year later she was competing at the European level. It was at that time that she became a fan of Rohler.

“All my role models have been able bodied athletes. When I played tennis, Roger Federer was one of my heroes. And of course Thomas Rohler was a role model. I’m a person who loves to sort of dance around and throw without putting a lot of power. I like to think of myself as a graceful thrower and Thomas Rohler is the perfect example of power and speed, and he’s also sort of dancing around. So, that made him like my role model,” she says.

After winning a silver at the Tokyo Paralympics, Roorda even went to train with the German thrower at his training base in Jena. “It’s just a six-hour drive from the Netherlands. I’ve trained with him a couple of times,” she says.

She trains with other javelin throw specialists too – including former World champion and Athens Olympics silver medallist Steffi Nerius and Ronald Vetter ( father of Olympic silver medal winning heptathlete Anouk Vetter). “There’s not a lot of competitions for para athletes so I also compete in competitions for able bodied athletes as much as I can. I try to mix and match various styles so I can see what works for me,” she says.

Though she admires Rohler’s style the most, Rohler isn’t not the only javelin thrower Roorda keeps an eye on. “I’ve been following Neeraj Chopra for a while. I couldn’t watch him compete in Tokyo because of the Covid protocols that year. But in Paris, I made sure to get tickets to the javelin throw final, but the stands are the closest I’ve got to him,” she says.

Just like Rohler and Chopra have their Olympic gold, Roorda wants to be a Paralympic champion now. While she might have missed out on a medal herself at Paris, its a goal that she’s not given up on. “I’ve got a couple of dreams – one of which is to throw 45 meters. I’m slowly sneaking up to it but at a major competition I just want to win somehow. It would be great to win a gold medal in Los Angeles in 2028. I’ve been an European Champion in 2021 and I’m now a World champion but I really want to become an Paralympic champion,” she says. 

Published on Sep 27, 2025