Neeraj Chopra fails to stand on a podium for first time after 7 years and 34 events

Neeraj Chopra is so used to collecting medals that when he misses out on a podium, it is not easy to remember the last time he finished outside the top three in a competition.

By finishing a dismal 8th in the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Chopra ended an enviable seven-year run marked by numerous medals.

Since 2018, Chopra has competed in 34 events, including the Olympics, World Championships, Diamond Leagues and Asian Games; not once has he been placed outside the top three in all these years.

In 2020, Chopra famously became the first Indian track & field athlete to bag an Olympic gold. Coincidentally, he achieved that feat at the same National Stadium in Japan that hosted the World Championships final today.

An enormous 92.97 metre throw from Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem denied Chopra a second Olympic gold last year in Paris. But Chopra's 89.45 m was good enough for silver.

Chopra had arrived in Tokyo as the reigning World Champion, having clinched gold in the previous edition in Budapest with an impressive 88.77 m; Nadeem was second then, and Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch, third.

Since starting training under World Record holder Jan Zelezny, Chopra had only got better. He famously breached the 90-metre mark (90.23 m) in the Doha Diamond League in May and hit 88.16 m to be placed first in the Paris Diamond League earlier this year.

There is an expiry for everything, like the dream run Chopra was on. The 27-year-old superstar sat on a bench, all by himself, probably reflecting on the poor final that he had just finished, throwing an average 84.03 m across five attempts. He will be back because he belongs up there, on the podium.