World Athletics Championship 2025: Everything about Neeraj Chopra-led Indian contingent

India heads into the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a 19-member squad, which will be led by men's javelin champion Neeraj Chopra.

The nine-day event will begin on Saturday and will continue until 21 in Tokyo. It is the venue where Chopra created history with Olympic gold our years ago.

In 2023, India had sent 28 in Budapest. No relay team has made it this time and the contingent is dominated by javelin throw stars. For the first time in history, India will have five javelin throwers (four in men's section).

Chopra, who is also the defending champion, will be in focus and his rivalry against world leader Julian Weber (Germany) and Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan) will continue.

Animesh Kajur, India's fastest man, and Tejas Shirse mark new milestones, qualifying in the 200m and 110m hurdles respectively. Among women, Asian Games champion Annu Rani headlines the squad.

India schedule (all times in IST)

Day 1 - Saturday, 13 Sept

• 04:00 - Men's 35km Race Walk Final - Ram Baboo, Sandeep Kumar
• 04:00 - Women's 35km Race Walk Final - Priyanka Goswami
• 16:20 - Women's 1500m Heats - Pooja

Day 2 - Sunday, 14 Sept

• 15:10 - Men's High Jump Qualification - Sarvesh Anil Kushare
• 17:35 - Women's 1500m Semi-final (if qualified) - Pooja
• 18:00 - Men's 10,000m Final - Gulveer Singh

Day 3 - Monday, 15 Sept

• 05:45 - Women's 3000m Steeplechase Heats - Parul Chaudhary, Ankita Dhyani
• 16:10 - Men's Long Jump Qualification - Murali Sreeshankar
• 16:50 - Men's 110m Hurdles Heats - Tejas Shirse
• 18:25 - Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final (if qualified) - Parul Chaudhary, Ankita Dhyani

Day 4 - Tuesday, 16 Sept

• 17:05 - Men's High Jump Final (if qualified) - Sarvesh Anil Kushare
• 17:10 - Men's 110m Hurdles Semi-final (if qualified) - Tejas Shirse
• 18:35 - Women's 1500m Final (if qualified) - Pooja
• 18:50 - Men's 110m Hurdles Final (if qualified) - Tejas Shirse

Day 5 - Wednesday, 17 Sept

• 15:35 - Men's Triple Jump Qualification - Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker
• 15:40 - Men's Javelin Qualification Group A - Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, Rohit Yadav
• 16:45 - Men's 200m Heats - Animesh Kujur
• 17:15 - Men's Javelin Qualification Group B - Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, Rohit Yadav
• 17:20 - Men's Long Jump Final (if qualified) - Murali Sreeshankar

Day 6 - Thursday, 18 Sept

• 15:53 - Men's Javelin Final (if qualified) - Chopra, Sachin Singh, Rohit
• 16:25 - Women's 800m Heats - Pooja
• 17:32 - Men's 200m Semi-final (if qualified) - Animesh Kujur

Day 7 - Friday, 19 Sept

• 16:00 - Women's Javelin Qualification Group A - Annu Rani
• 16:35 - Men's 5000m Heats - Gulveer Singh
• 17:15 - Women's 800m Semi-final (if qualified) - Pooja
• 17:20 - Men's Triple Jump Final (if qualified) - Chithravel, Aboobacker
• 17:30 - Women's Javelin Qualification Group B - Annu Rani
• 18:36 - Men's 200m Final (if qualified) - Animesh Kujur

Day 8 - Saturday, 20 Sept

• 06:20 - Men's 20km Race Walk Final - Servin Sebastian
• 17:35 - Women's Javelin Final (if qualified) - Annu Rani

Day 9 - Sunday, 21 Sept

• 16:05 - Women's 800m Final (if qualified) - Pooja
• 16:20 - Men's 5000m Final (if qualified) - Gulveer Singh

Indian athletes

Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw) - Season-best 90.23m at Doha Diamond League; won Paris Diamond League (88.16m) and Neeraj Chopra Classic (86.18m); second at Diamond League Final (85.01m).

Sachin Yadav (Javelin Throw) - Gold at National Games (84.39m), silver at Asian Championships (85.16m), and 82.33m at Neeraj Chopra Classic.

Yashvir Singh (Javelin Throw) - Season-best 82.57m at Asian Championships.

Rohit Yadav (Javelin Throw) - Gold at National Inter-State Championships (83.65m); winner at Taiwan Athletics Open (74.42m).

Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump) - Returned from knee surgery; season-best 8.13m to win Indian Open ( World Athletics Continental Tour, Bhubaneswar).

Praveen Chithravel (Triple Jump) - Equalled national record 17.37m at Federation Cup; silver at Asian Championships (16.90m) and World University Games.

Abdulla Aboobacker (Triple Jump) - Personal best 17.19m at India Open, Bengaluru; hasn't surpassed this mark since.

Sarvesh Anil Kushare (High Jump) - Won Inter-State Championships with 2.24m; fifth at Asian Championships; 0.3m shy of personal best from 2022.

Gulveer Singh (5000m/10,000m) - Broke Indian 10,000m record (27:00.22) at The TEN, California; 5000m indoor NR (12:59.77); double gold at Asian Championships (5000m 13:24.77, 10,000m ~28:38.63); 3000m NR 7:34.49 in Budapest.

Animesh Kujur (200m) - First Indian male sprinter at Worlds; national records in 100m (10.18s, Greece) and 200m (20.32s, Asian Championships, Gumi); bronze despite illness.

Tejas Shirse (110m Hurdles) - Broke national 60m hurdles record indoors; overcame hamstring & navicular injuries; gold at National Inter-State (13.60s); qualified via world rankings.

Servin Sebastian (20km Race Walk) - Bronze at Asian Championships (PB 1:21:14); won Indian Open Race Walk (1:21:46.47).

Ram Baboo (35km Race Walk) - Gold at Indian Open Race Walk (2:32:53.50).

Sandeep Kumar (35km Race Walk) - Silver at Indian Open Race Walk (2:35:05.75).

Women
Parul Chaudhary (3000m Steeplechase) - Parul, 30, ever-consistent, finished 16th at Budapest 2023 (PB 9:24.29s) and enters Tokyo with a silver at the Asian Championships and a new NR of 9:12.46s.

Ankita Dhyani (3000m Steeplechase) - Breakout year: gold at National Games (9:53.63), PB 9:44.05 at Mangrum Invitational (USA), silver at World University Games (9:31.99).

Annu Rani (Javelin Throw) - Gold at Wieslaw Maniak Memorial (62.59m); missed medal at Asian Championships; near personal best form.

Priyanka Goswami (35km Race Walk) - National record 2:56:34 (Dudinska 50, Slovakia); gold at Austrian Championships 10km (47:54).

Pooja (800m / 1500m) - Breakthrough year: PB 2:01.89 (800m) & 4:10.83 (1500m) at Asian Championships; won double gold at Taiwan Open (2:02.79 / 4:11.63); gold in 1500m at World Continental Bronze Meet, Bhubaneswar.