Neeraj Chopra has been ruled out of the 2026 Asian Games after tearing ligaments in his ankle during training, ending his season days after he produced a season-best throw of 88.05 metres at the Lausanne Diamond League.
The injury rules Chopra out of both the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, and the Diamond League final. He was the two-time defending Asian Games javelin champion, having won gold at Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2023, and had been set to lead a 73-member Indian athletics squad to Japan.
Chopra reportedly asked the Athletics Federation of India to hand his place to another athlete rather than risk further injury by attempting to compete. The federation is expected to name a replacement shortly, with Rohit Yadav — who threw a personal-best 87.68 metres in Bhubaneswar earlier this year — among those in contention to take his place in the javelin field.
The setback comes at a difficult point in Chopra's season, after he had appeared to be regaining form and momentum with the Lausanne throw.
