Chopra soars as former Olympic champion Walcott exits early

Neeraj Chopra of India competes in the men’s javelin qualification at the World Athletics Championships on Thursday. (AFP)

Former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago failed to advance out of javelin qualification at the World Championships yesterday, as India’s Neeraj Chopra bettered his own Olympic gold-winning effort to advance. Walcott, who won in London and picked up bronze in Rio, could only reach 78.87 metres in Eugene, Oregon, finishing eighth in his group to miss today’s final. Chopra threw for 88.39 metres on his opening attempt, exceeding the 87.58 metres he produced in Tokyo, where he became the first Indian to claim an individual gold in athletics and earn superstardom. Defending world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada had the best throw of the day, reaching 89.91 metres.Mu leads US trio into women’s 800 semis In a World Championships already boasting some notable clean sweeps, the United States remained in the hunt for a first 1-2-3 in the women’s 800 metres after their big three, led by Olympic champion Athing Mu, advanced from heats. Mu, Raevyn Rogers and Ajee Wilson all looked good, while Kenya’s Mary Moraa and Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson of Britain, the only other athletes to have gone under 1:58 this season, also went through on a warm, humid night. Mu, 20, has enjoyed a stellar first half of the season, albeit with her best time two seconds down on her 1:55.04 personal best set on the same Hayward Field track almost a year ago. Rogers, who has a world silver and Olympic bronze to her name, left things a little late before a surge secured her place, while Wilson, third in the last two World Championships, looked assured. Defending champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda also went through, second behind Mu in a slowly-run heat, while Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji was the fastest of the qualifiers in 1:58.83. In the men’s 800m, Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir produced his best performance of the season to win his semi-final, while Algerian Slimane Moula came from behind to win his race in the fastest time of the day. Korir, one of three Kenyans to advance to today’s final, took it easy to move through his opening heat but took a more aggressive approach in the semi-final.