ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s javelin star Arshad Nadeem and India’s Neeraj Chopra will reignite their rivalry in August when the two sportsmen compete at the Silesia Wanda Diamond League 2025 competition scheduled to be held in Poland, the official website of the Olympics said this week.
This will be the first time Nadeem and Chopra will face each other since their charged encounter at the Paris 2024 Olympic final, where Nadeem clinched gold ahead of Neeraj with an Olympic record-shattering throw of 92.97 meters.
The Wanda Diamond League is an annual sports competition featuring elite athletes across sprints, jumps, throws and distance events. The competition is set to take place next month in Silesia on August 16.
“Neeraj Chopra will face Arshad Nadeem,” the Olympics website said, quoting the Diamond League organizers.
“The Indian-Pakistani battle awaiting the Polish fans will be the first opportunity for revenge after the Paris Olympics.”
Chopra has had an impressive year so far, kicking off his season with a win at the Potch Invitational in South Africa before finishing second at the Doha Diamond League, where he breached the coveted 90-meter barrier with a massive 90.23m throw — a new national record.
The Indian athlete then had to settle for a second-place finish again at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland but returned to winning ways at the Paris Diamond League. Since then, he has logged back-to-back wins at the Ostrova Golden Spike in Czechia and the NC Classic in India.
Nadeem, meanwhile, recently marked a triumphant return to action by winning gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, Korea. He hadn’t competed since his Paris 2024 exploits.
Rivalries, particularly between athletes or teams from bitter rivals India and Pakistan, have always been one of the most intriguing aspects of sports.
However, next month’s competition will have added flair to it, considering the militaries of the two countries engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades in May.
An attack in Indian-administered Kashmir triggered a conflict between the two states that saw them target each other with missiles, drones, fighter jets and artillery fire before agreeing to a ceasefire on May 10.
