Indian javelin star and two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra is set to face his Pakistani rival and reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem at the highly anticipated Silesia Diamond League 2025, scheduled for August 16 in Poland.
This will mark their first encounter since the Paris Olympics 2024, where Nadeem stunned the world with an Olympic record-breaking throw of 92.97 metres to clinch gold, while Chopra secured silver with a throw of 89.45 metres.
Though the official lineup for the Silesia event is yet to be released, the organisers have confirmed the participation of both Chopra and Nadeem. “The Indian-Pakistani battle awaiting the Polish fans will be the first opportunity for revenge after the Paris Olympics,” stated the organisers, as quoted by Olympics.com.
Chopra, currently ranked world No. 1 with 1,445 points, recently reclaimed the top spot from Grenada’s Anderson Peters (1,431 points), while Nadeem holds the fourth position with 1,370 points.
The 2025 season has been remarkable for Chopra. He began the year with a win at the Potch Invitational in South Africa and went on to make history by breaching the 90-metre mark for the first time with a 90.23m throw at the Doha Diamond League, where he finished second.
Since then, Chopra has continued his winning streak, claiming titles at the Paris Diamond League and the Ostrava Golden Spike with best throws of 88.16m and 85.29m, respectively. He also secured a strong second-place finish at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland.
Adding to his accolades, Chopra dominated the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025, held in Bengaluru on July 5, where he claimed gold in the inaugural edition of the event named in his honour.
As the countdown begins to the Silesia Diamond League clash, global athletics fans are eagerly awaiting another chapter in the Chopra–Nadeem rivalry, one that promises fireworks and world-class competition.
