Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra has extended his best wishes to the Indian team participating in the in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
He expressed confidence that all athletes will deliver impressive performances at the tournament.
India is sending a contingent of 499 athletes to represent the nation, aiming to uphold its legacy after achieving a record 107 medals at the 2023. Despite having a smaller team compared to the 655 athletes who competed in Hangzhou, the goal remains to maintain the same remarkable momentum in 2026.
Although Neeraj, a two-time gold medalist at the Asian Games, will not participate due to a ligament injury in his ankle, he took to social media platform X to wish the Indian team success in this major event. He wrote, “Wishing all the best for the Asian I am confident they will make us proud.”
Neeraj had hoped to compete but unfortunately had to end his season prematurely due to the injury. Despite qualifying for the Diamond League final, he could not participate. Last month, he shared updates about his injury on X, stating, “After a lot of hard work, I was finally finding the rhythm I was searching for. I had my best throw of the season in Lausanne. Unfortunately, shortly after that, I ruptured my ankle ligament during training. After discussions with my doctors and team, we decided that I would not participate for the remainder of the season.”
He added, “This is disappointing, especially because I felt I was close to regaining my form. But as they say, setbacks are part of the journey. My focus now is on recovery and coming back even stronger. Thank you all for your love and support.”
Neeraj Chopra is India’s most successful athlete in track and field, having achieved nearly every major accolade. He is a two-time Olympic medalist with one gold and one silver medal and has also made the nation proud at the Diamond League finals, World Athletics Championships, and Commonwealth Games.