Neeraj Chopra headlines India’s athletics campaign at the Commonwealth Games, where he faces Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem and Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage in a high-profile javelin contest. India hopes to surpass its eight-medal haul from the previous edition with strong prospects across multiple events
Published Date – 26 July 2026, 02:21 PM
Glasgow: Neeraj Chopra will be up against reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka in a marquee men’s javelin clash as India seek to better last edition’s medal haul in Commonwealth Games athletics events, beginning here Monday.
Besides Chopra, other Indian gold medal contenders are long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, a silver medallist at the 2022 CWG in Birmingham, and high jumper Sarvesh Kushare who recently set the national record of 2.31m.
The Indian team management is hoping for two medals each in men’s javelin, long jump, high jump and triple jump, besides podium finishes in men’s 10,000m, decathlon and women’s 10,000m race walk.
The men’s 100m hurdles and shot put as well as women’s 3000m steeplechase may also fetch India medals, which could take the haul past the eight (1 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze) won last time in Birmingham.
But there is no certainty of gold medal count as most of the athletics events have world class fields..
A lower back injury has been troubling Chopra since September 2025 and he made a delayed start to the season at Doha Diamond League on June 19. He finished fourth with a throw of 85.69m — a modest one by his high standards.
With another round of rehabilitation and training for a month at his training base in Bienne in Switzerland, the 28-year-old two-time Olympic medallist Indian superstar would be looking to repeat his gold-winning performance at 2018 Gold Coast CWG. He reached here on Friday from Switzerland.
Chopra had won gold in Gold Coast with a throw of 86.47m. He missed the 2022 Games due to an injury.
Indian athletics head coach Radhakrishnan Nair, who is expecting the 32-member team to better last edition’s eight-medal haul, said Chopra is in “perfect physical shape”.
It will, however, be a tough fight for the gold for Chopra in a star-studded field. The men’s javelin qualifying round will be on July 30 and the final the next day.
Glasgow men’s javelin field as good as Olympics/World Championships
Except for the likes of Curtis Thompson of USA and Julian Weber of Germany, all the global javelin top stars will be in action in Glasgow.
Besides Chopra, Nadeem and Pathirage, the other competitors include reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, 2022 CWG silver winner Anderson Peters of Grenada and Julius Yego of Kenya.
In the mix will be India’s Rohit Yadav, who, in fact, is in the second spot among Commonwealth season leaders with his 87.05m last month. He is also a medal contender. Yashvir Singh is the third Indian in the fray.
Pathirage will start as favourite for gold as he is the lone 90m-plus thrower in the world this season with his 92.62m while winning Rome Diamond League title. The 23-year-old has another three 88m-plus throws and won two DL titles this season.
Nadeem, though, has been struggling for some time, and he is entering the Games with an extremely poor 78.47m effort at Luzern, Switzerland, on July 16. Peters has a season’s best of 86.38m. He won the Rabat DL title in May with 86.08m. The 33-year-old Walcott is yet to hit peak form as his season’s best is 83.45m.
Second CWG medal in sight for Sreeshankar, Tejaswin
Sreeshankar, with his 8.38m effort last month, leads the season’s chart among Commonwealth long jumpers in the absence of Wayne Pinnock (8.39m) of Jamaica which has decided to send Tajay Gayle (8.37m). The 27-year-old would be looking for his second CWG medal — a rare feat in Indian athletics — after the silver in 2022 Birmingham Games.
Compatriot Lokesh Sathyanathan could also be in medal contention with his season’s best of 8.21m.
The men’s high jump will see the Commonwealth’s top six season leaders competing with Kushare and Kimani Jack of England having sailed over 2.31m. Reigning Olympic champion Hamish Kerr (SB: 2.28m) of New Zealand, so also Romaine Beckford (SB: 2.30m) of Jamaica and Yual Reath (SB: 2.28m) of Australia.
Aadarsh Ram (SB: 2.27m) and Tejaswin (SB: 2.26m), whose national record was broken by Kushare last month, are also competing in high jump.
Tejaswin’s main medal hope is, however, in the decathlon of which he is the national record holder. He is in the second spot in the Commonwealth season top list below 2014 CWG and Tokyo Olympics champion Damian Warner of Canada, who is also competing in Glasgow.
In men’s triple jump, both national record holder Praveen Chitravel (SB: 17.08m) and Selva Prabhu (SB: 17.05m) are in medal contention. They are just below world indoor silver medallist Jordan Scott (SB: 17.69m) of Jamaica who is the favourite to win gold.
In track events, including in sprint races, most of the Indians are below the ladder. Men’s 100m hurdler Tejas Shirse is expected to be in the final and can even win a medal if he can improve his season’s best and national record of 13.27 seconds.
Opening day show
India’s first athletics medal can come from Kushare on Monday while Shirse will also be in action.
Sreeshankar and Sathyanathan (men’s long jump), Pooja Singh (women’s high jump) will have their qualifying rounds while National record holder Gurindervir Singh will have his 100m round 1 race on Monday.
