World Athletics Championships 2022 | Chance for Neeraj Chopra to create history after Johannes Vetter pulls out
The chances of Neeraj Chopra winning a medal at the World Athletics Championships 2022 have increased manyfold, after Germany's javelin thrower Johannes Vetter pulled out from the meet. Vetter has the second biggest throw in the history of the sport and was tipped to win Tokyo 2020 Olympics gold.
Back then, Neeraj had sprung a surprise to win the gold, while Vetter finished out of the top eight as well. This would have been the first time since the Olympics, that the duo would have participated together, but that is not to be.Â
“As you probably have noticed, I haven’t shared much content over the past months. I have been fighting with shoulder problems since the beginning of the season. Therefore, we decided to not compete at the World Championship in Oregon,” Johannes Vetter wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday.
“It’s tough to say when I will be able to compete again and I will need the following weeks to digest this decision. Nevertheless, I will try to keep you posted and share a few more updates,” Vetter added.
Meanwhile, Vetter had competed in only one event in 2022 - the Ursapharm Speerwurfmeeting in Offenburg, Germany in May. He could only manage a throw of 85.64m, a good distance away from his best of 97.76m. This only means, this will be a big chance for the Indian to win a medal here.Â
On the other hand, Chopra has been in sensational form, in the last few weeks. He marked a personal best throw of 89.30m too, at the Paavo Nurmi Games, in early June. Later he improved the national record to 89.94m at the Diamond League in Stockholm.