Led by reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra, a total of 19 Indian athletes have qualified for the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, Japan, scheduled from September 13 to 21. The Indian contingent comprises 13 men and 6 women.
Neeraj Chopra, the defending champion in the men's javelin throw, secured his spot through a wild card entry. He had also surpassed the automatic qualification mark of 85.50m. Joining him in the javelin throw will be Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh, both of whom qualified via world rankings.
In addition to Chopra, Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase), Gulveer Singh (men's 5,000m), and Praveen Chithravel (men's triple jump) also breached the automatic qualification mark.
Several other athletes secured their places through the world rankings. These include Murali Sreeshankar (men's long jump), Annu Rani (women's javelin), Animesh Kujur (men's 200m), Abdulla Aboobacker (men's triple jump), Servin Sebastian and Akshdeep Singh (men's 20km race walk), Ram Baboo (men's 35km race walk), Pooja (women's 1500m), and Sarvesh Anil Kushare (men's high jump).
Animesh Kujur's qualification is particularly noteworthy as he is the first Indian sprinter to compete at the World Championships. He holds the national record in both the 100m and 200m and will be participating in the men's 200m event.
However, Nandini Agasara (women's heptathlon), who qualified as the Asian champion, has withdrawn from the World Championships due to an elbow injury. Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase) has also been ruled out due to an injury.
Murali Sreeshankar made the cut at the last minute, marking a comeback after a year-long injury layoff. Since returning to action in July, he has won five consecutive competitions, with his best performance being 8.13m at the World Athletics Continental Tour bronze-level event in Bhubaneswar on August 10. Although he consistently performed well, he did not breach the automatic qualification mark of 8.27m.
Annu Rani has also been in good form, consistently surpassing the 60m mark in recent meets.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will announce the final team in the coming days.
