Why the Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem rivalry will not happen at Silesia Diamond League | More sports News
Indian Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem have both withdrawn from the upcoming Silesia Diamond League scheduled for August 16 in Poland. The highly anticipated first meeting between the rivals since the Paris Olympics 2024, where Nadeem won gold and Chopra secured silver, will not materialize.Nadeem’s absence is due to recent surgery on his right calf last month, with his coach ruling him out of the competition. The reason for Chopra’s withdrawal remains unclear.Chopra has had an impressive start to the 2025 season, beginning with a victory at the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April. He followed this with a historic second-place finish at the Doha Diamond League, where he achieved his first-ever throw over 90 meters, reaching 90.23m.The Indian athlete continued his strong performances with a second-place finish at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland. He then secured consecutive victories at the Paris Diamond League and Ostrava Golden Spike with throws of 88.16m and 85.29m respectively.
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Most recently, Chopra won the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic, a competition named after him, at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru. He claimed victory with a throw of 86.18m.Both athletes are now focusing on the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, scheduled for September 13-21. At the previous championships, Chopra made history by becoming the first Indian to win gold, finishing ahead of Nadeem.Before the Tokyo championships, Chopra may participate in the Lausanne Diamond League on August 20, which will be the last major athletics event on the calendar.
