"We can understand that pain and agony" - Fans react as Neeraj Chopra fails to defend title at World Athletics Championships 2025

India's javelin star Neeraj Chopra failed to defend his title at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the fifth round of the final on Thursday, September 18, as his campaign came to a disappointing end.

Neeraj Chopra recorded a best throw of 84.03m, which was not good enough to help him gain the top spot. Moreover, he failed to make it to the top three as well, finishing eighth. Therefore, he walked away without a medal from the event.

Notably, this was the first time in seven years that he did not secure a podium finish in an international event. The result came as a shock and left the fans disappointed as well.

"Neeraj Chopra💔Hard luck today. The weather also goes bad at same time. We can understand that pain and agony. You will come back stronger champion🙏#NeerajChopra #WorldAthleticsChampionships #Javelin," a fan wrote on X.

https://x.com/Ram1947_/status/1968638198646448130

@Ram1947_

Neeraj Chopra💔​Hard luck today.The weather also goes bad at same time.​We can understand that pain and agony.​You will come back stronger champion🙏​#NeerajChopra #WorldAthleticsChampionships #Javelin

Below are some more reactions on X -

अंशुल चव्हाण । Anshul Chavhan

@anshul_chavhan

Neeraj Chopra finished 8th in the World Championship final. Rarest bad day for him.

Silly Point

@FarziCricketer

Shocking and sad. It's over for Neeraj Chopra. He finished at 8th spot. 💔​His best throw was 84.03. #Tokyo2025

Secular Aadmi

@secular_admi

SHOCKING!!!💔​Neeraj Chopra ends at 8th spot. ​Chin up Champ you've given far more celebrations than sadness...He'll be back better and better ​#NeerajChopra #WorldAthleticsChamps2025 #Tokyo2025

Garima Bhardwaj

@me_Garima3

How often do we get to see Neeraj Chopra like this? Tough, tough day.

Rahul Bhutani

@BhutaniRahul

Neeraj Chopra finishes 8th in men's JT at #WCHTokyo25 , not a position #IndianAthletics fans are used to seeing him finish but this is year 1 of 2028 Olympic cycle & Neeraj has a new coach with new coaching technique & it will take time to adapt. Best wishes to him

Keshorn Wallcott of Trinidad & Tobago bagged the gold medal with a throw of 88.16m. Anderson Peters of Grenada won the silver with a throw of 87.38m, while Curtis Thompson of the USA won the bronze with a throw of 86.67m.

This was the same venue where Neeraj had won his historic Olympic gold medal four years ago. However, it did not prove to be a successful outing for him this time around. Neeraj himself appeared disappointed with the result as he let out a roar after being knocked out.

This result also ended his four-year streak of having secured top-two finishes at every major event.

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Neeraj Chopra's notable achievements

Neeraj Chopra has recorded multiple notable and historic achievements in his career so far. With an Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020 and a silver in Paris 2024, he became the first Indian track and field athlete to bag Olympic medals.

He won the gold at the World Athletics Championships in 2023 and became the first Indian to do so. Moreover, Neeraj also became the first Indian to win the Diamond League Trophy in 2022.

The star javelin thrower also won the gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018 and defended his title in Hangzhou in 2023.