Neeraj Chopra ends 2026 season after ankle ligament tear, will miss Asian Games

Neeraj Chopra has shut down his 2026 season. The 28-year-old javelin thrower said on Saturday that he tore a ligament in his ankle during training, days after an 88.05-metre season best in Lausanne, and that he will sit out the rest of the year.

The decision takes him out of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where he was the defending champion from Hangzhou 2023 and a gold medallist from Jakarta 2018. It also ends his run at the Diamond League Final in Brussels on 5 September and at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships, both of which he had already qualified to enter.

Chopra wrote the news himself. "After a period of hard work, I finally felt I was gaining the momentum I had been looking for with a Season's Best throw in Lausanne. Unfortunately, shortly after, I sustained a ligament tear in my ankle during training. After discussions with my doctor and team, we've decided that I will sit out the rest of this season."

He added that the timing stung because the rhythm had just returned. "It's disappointing, especially because I felt close to finding my rhythm. But as they say, setbacks are a part of the journey. My focus now is on recovering well and coming back even stronger."

Lausanne was his third competitive outing of the year. He came back in June at the Doha Diamond League after nine months away and finished fourth with 85.69 metres. At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games he took silver with 85.83 metres behind Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage. In Lausanne, Pathirage won again, this time by nine centimetres, 88.14 metres to Chopra's 88.05. Grenada's Anderson Peters was third at 86.69 metres. The Indian collected seven Diamond League points, moved from seventh to fifth in the standings and sat inside the top-six cut for the final.

The 88.05-metre throw was his longest since 88.16 metres at the Paris Diamond League in June 2025. His national record remains 90.23 metres, set in Doha last year. That mark arrived after years of sitting just under 90. The body has not given him a clean year since.

Lower-back pain has followed him since 2023. In September 2025 he aggravated a disc in training around the Tokyo World Championships and spent nine months in rehabilitation. He returned in June. The ankle tear now writes off the rest of 2026. Two long layoffs inside twelve months is a different problem from a single missed final. The run-up, the block and the plant all load the same chain. An ankle that is not trusted changes the throw before the spear leaves the hand.

India's medal plan for Aichi-Nagoya had him at the front of the athletics list. Yashvir Singh, who took Commonwealth bronze in Glasgow after Chopra told him to keep the spear in one line on the last attempt, is now the senior Indian in the event for the Games. Pathirage, who has beaten Chopra twice this summer, becomes the man to catch in Asia.

Chopra has not published a return date. He has not said whether the tear needs surgery. The only public decision is the one he posted: the season is over, the Games are gone, and the work now is to get the ankle to hold the plant again.