The Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on 18 June will see Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra take on world leader Max Dehning and European champion Julian Weber in a javelin competition. This event is part of Chopra’s preparations for his Olympic title defense in Paris this August. In the 2022 competition, Chopra’s lifetime best throw was 89.94m, achieved in Stockholm. He also won the world title in Budapest with a throw of 88.17m.
According to his coach Klaus Bartonietz, Chopra threw 90.40m at a training camp in Belek last year. Bartonietz believes that breaking the 90m mark is just a matter of time for Chopra. Joining Chopra at the Paavo Nurmi Stadium will be Dehning, Weber, Helander, and Etelatalo. Dehning, a 19-year-old world U20 silver medallist, threw 90.20m in Halle earlier this year, which is currently the world lead. These five athletes are the first to be announced for the upcoming Paavo Nurmi Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.