Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra to spearhead India's challenge at World Athletics Championships 2023

The World Athletics Championships 2023 is scheduled to be held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19. The 28-member Indian contingent will be led by javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra, at the mega event.

The Indian team looks quite formidable. However, some talented athletes will not be able to participate in the World Athletics Championships. The in-form shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, who won a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships last month, is unavailable for the upcoming event because he has not fully recovered from his groin injury.

Meanwhile, some other athletes like Tejaswin Shankar (in men's high jump), Priyanka Goswami (in women's 20km race walk), and KM Chanda (in women's 800m race) will miss the World Athletics Championships. Instead, they will prepare for the Asian Games 2023, which will get underway on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.

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Neeraj Chopra will aim to win gold at World Athletics Championships 2023

Neeraj Chopra, the reigning Olympic champion, will be India's biggest hope for a gold medal this year. He clinched a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships last year in Eugene, Oregon.

Chopra also won the 2022 Diamond League final. In 2023, the star javelin thrower has been brilliant so far. He claimed the top position in both Doha and Lausanne Diamond Leagues.

Ever since the 25-year-old scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics by winning a gold medal in javelin throw, he became an inspiration for several young athletes in the country.

Men's squad is as follows:

Neeraj Chopra - Javelin throw

DP Manu - Javelin throw

Kishore Kumar Jena - Javelin throw

Krishan Kumar - 800m

Ajay Kumar Saroj - 1500m

Santhosh Kumar Tamilarnsan - 400m hurdles

Avinash Mukund Sable - 3000m steeplechase

Sarvesh Anil Kushare - High jump

Jeswin Aldrin - Long jump

Murali Sreeshankar - Long jump

Praveen Chithravel - Triple jump

Eldhose Paul - Triple jump

Abdulla Aboobacker - Triple jump

Akashdeep Singh - 20km race walk

Vikash Singh - 20km race walk

Paramjeet Singh - 20km race walk

Ram Baboo - 35km race walk

Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal, Muhammed Anas, Rajesh Ramesh, Mijo Chacko Kurian, Anil Rajalingam - Men's 4×400m relay

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Women's squad:

Annu Rani - Javelin throw

Bhawna Jat - 20km race walk

Shaili Singh - Long jump

Parul Chaudhary - 3000m steeplechase

Jyothi Yarraji - 100m hurdles