Indian Coach Confirms Neeraj Chopra Fit And Confident For CWG 2026

India's chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair has expressed confidence in Neeraj Chopra's fitness and form ahead of the athletics competition at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Nair said the Olympic and world champion is in "perfect physical shape" and is well prepared to deliver a strong performance after returning from the injury that forced him to miss the previous edition of the Games.

Chopra, who won the men's javelin throw gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast with a best effort of 86.47 metres, was unable to defend his title in Birmingham in 2022 because of injury. The star thrower suffered a lower back injury ahead of the 2025 World Championships and has competed only once this season, finishing fourth at the Doha Diamond League in June with a throw of 85.69 metres.

Speaking ahead of the competition, Nair said Chopra had regained full fitness and looked more confident than he had in a long time. The coach refrained from predicting the colour of the medal but stated that the Indian ace was focused on producing his best performance. Chopra arrived in Glasgow on Friday to begin his preparations for the Games.

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The men's javelin competition is expected to be one of the highlights of the athletics programme. Chopra will face stiff competition from Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, Grenada's Anderson Peters and Pakistan's defending Commonwealth champion and Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem. Fellow Indian Rohit Yadav, who recorded a personal best throw of 87.05 metres last month, is also expected to challenge for a podium finish. The qualification round is scheduled for July 30, with the final taking place on July 31.

Nair also expressed optimism about India's overall athletics campaign, predicting that the 32-member squad would surpass its performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where the team won eight medals, including one gold, four silver and three bronze. He said India was aiming to secure two or three gold medals in Glasgow, although he did not specify the events most likely to produce them.

If India wins three athletics gold medals, it would mark the country's best-ever performance at the Commonwealth Games, surpassing the previous record of two gold medals achieved at the 2010 Delhi Games. Apart from Chopra and Rohit Yadav, Nair identified India's long jumpers, triple jumpers, high jumper, Gulveer Singh, Parul Chaudhary and decathlete Tejaswin Shankar as strong medal prospects, expressing confidence that the contingent could deliver its best Commonwealth Games campaign in recent years.

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