World Championship gold medallist javelin thrower Anderson Peters pulls out of Neeraj Chopra Classic, here's why sesd

Double World Championship gold-medallist javelin thrower Anderson Peters has been pulled out of the Neeraj Chopra Classic Javelin meet due to an ankle injury. The 27-year-old Grenada legend who clinched a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics, where Neeraj clinched silver, has been replaced by Poland's Cyprian Mrzygłód in the event schedule for Saturday.

Cyprian Mrzygłód is a European U23 champion and his best throw of 84.97 metres came during the event.

"Anderson Peters has been ruled out of the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 due to an ankle injury sustained during his last competition. Poland's Cyprian Mrzygłód has been named as his replacement in the final lineup," the organisers said a statement.

The marquee event organised by double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra in collaboration with JSW Sports and sanctioned by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will feature 12 javelin throwers, including five Indians, who have already seen three replacements.

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Peteran has had a long rivalry with Neeraj Chopra as he successfully defended his World Championships title in 2022, defeating Neeraj with three throws over 90 metres. Peters then went on to win a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where Neeraj did not compete.

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Earlier, India's Javelin thrower Kishore Jena, struggling with an ankle injury, had pulled out of the NC Classic and was replaced by Yashvir Singh. On June 6, Poland's Martin Konecny had replaced Asian Games bronze medallist Genki Dean of Japan.

The inaugural edition of Neeraj Chopra's classic was originally slated for May 24 but it was postponed due to military tensions between India and Pakistan.

The confirmed international lineup now includes Mrzygłód, Poland's Martin Konecny, 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thomas Röhler (Germany), 2015 world champion Julius Yego (Kenya), Curtis Thompson (USA), Luiz Mauricio da Silva (Brazil), and Rumesh Pathirage (Sri Lanka).

The Indian contingent will feature Asian Championships silver medallist Sachin Yadav, Rohit Yadav, and Sahil Silwal, Yashvir Singh, besides Neeraj.

The event, granted Category A status by World Athletics, is considered a "dream project" of Chopra and aims to establish India as a credible host of elite-level athletics events.