New Delhi, July 13:
Ahead of his second Commonwealth Games appearance, Indian javelin throw ace Neeraj Chopra is sweating it out at his training base in Switzerland and is likely to head directly to Glasgow for the multi-sporting event starting on July 23.
Chopra had won a gold in the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast but missed the 2022 edition in Birmingham due to an injury. He will be competing for his second major event of the year in Glasgow after the fourth place finish in Doha Diamond League in June with a throw of 85.69m.
The men’s javelin throw qualifying round of the Glasgow CWG will be held on July 30, with the final slated for the next day.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had left it to Chopra whether to compete at any event before the CWG and it is more or less certain that he will head directly to Glasgow from his current training base in Bienne (Biel).
The two-time Olympic medallist Indian shared the glimpses of his training in Switzerland on his Instagram.
He had also caught up with Swiss shot put legend Werner Gunthor, the three-time world champion from 1987 to 1993 and 1988 Seoul Olympics bronze winner, a few days ago.
It is not known whether Chopra is fully fit. When he competed in Doha, the 28-year-old had not recovered fully from the back injury he had sustained before the World Championships in Tokyo in September 2025.
“It’s better than before. I can’t say that my body is back to same as before. But I am slowly coming back,” Chopra had said a day after the Doha Diamond League.
“There was no pressure. I just wanted to play. I wanted to do what I was doing in training. I didn’t try to put in any extra effort. You must have seen that I just wanted to get a good throw. And I got 85.69. I was satisfied with that. Because I wasn’t doing that much (throw) in training,” he said at the sidelines of the Indian athletics award function here on June 20.
“I knew what situation I was in. And I had to move forward step by step. I was happy with whatever throw I got (in Doha).”
In Glasgow, Chopra is set to be up against Pakistani Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, who is also the defending Commonwealth Games champion. Nadeem has been named in the Pakistan contingent for the
Glasgow Games, according to Pakistan media reports.
Nadeem had won gold in the 2022 Birmingham CWG with a big throw of 90.18m.
Rising Sri Lankan star Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who breached the coveted 90m mark earlier this year, is also set to compete in Glasgow, setting the stage for a mouthwatering three-way contest for the gold. Sri Lanka has, however, not yet announced their CWG squad.
Two other Indians, Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh, will also compete in the men’s javelin throw event.
The other members of the 32-strong squad are currently training in Spala, Poland.