Neeraj Chopra, an injured javelin thrower, withdraws from the Paavo Nurmi Games

Neeraj Chopra, a javelin thrower who won an Olympic gold medal, has withdrawn from the Paavo Nurmi Games 2023, which are set to take place in Finland on June 13.

Last year, Neeraj competed in Finland and won the silver medal with a throw that established a new national record of 89.30 metres.

The world’s No. 1 javelin thrower, Anderson Peters of Grenada, was surpassed by him last month, according to the World Athletics standings.

Along with the Indian, Johannes Vetter of Germany, a previous world champion, has also pulled out of the competition. At the Finnish meet, the two adversaries were anticipated to resume their rivalry after their 2021 Tokyo Olympics matchup.

Due to a muscular injury he suffered while training earlier this month, Neeraj earlier this month decided against competing in the FBK Games in the Netherlands, which were held on June 4.

Since 1957, the Paavo Nurmi Games have been an annual sporting competition in Finland. The event is a Gold-level World Athletics Continental Tour contest.

On May 5 of this year, the Olympic champion had a triumphant return in the Doha Diamond League, taking first place with a throw of 88.67 metres at the Qatar Sports Club.

Neeraj Chopra, who was injured and missed the rest of the 2022 season, would be severely hurt by the news. After winning the Diamond League 2022 finals in Eugene in September of last year, the javelin ace was forced to miss over eight months of competition due to an injury.

On June 27, he is slated to compete in a tournament at the Golden Spike Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

The talented thrower is anticipated to compete at the Asian Games in September and the World Athletics Championships in August.