The 2016 Olympic javelin silver medallist Julius Yego will be aiming for his fifth 80m-plus throw of the season when he lines up at Saturday’s Silesia Diamond League.
The “YouTube Man” has been steadily sharpening his spear this year as he builds towards a record seventh World Championships appearance next month in Tokyo.
So far this season, Yego has already launched four 80m mark throws before a global tournament, a far cry from 2024, when he managed just three 80m throws before the Paris Olympics. Yego launched his 2025 campaign at the Doha Diamond League in May, securing ninth place after a 78.52m throw.
The meeting saw Germany’s Julian Weber unleash a world-leading 91.06m to claim victory. Chopra soared into the 90m club with 90.23m, while Olympic bronze medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada threw 85.64m for third.
He followed it up with an appearance in front of the home crowd at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on May 31. Yego once again struggled to find his groove, placing ninth with a below-par 74.71m.
Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio da Silva (86.34m) claimed top honours, with Germany’s Thomas Röhler (80.79m) and Portugal’s Leandro Ramos (80.68m) completing the podium. The 2015 World champion, however, turned his season around the following month with two dominant displays in Finland.
On June 11 at the Motonet GP meet, he uncorked a season-best 82.95m to take the win, leading 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (79.98m) and Finland’s Taneli Juutinen (78.24m). Six days later, at the Turku continental meet, he improved on his season best with an 83.08m throw to claim victory.
His form, however, dipped at the Paris Diamond League on June 26, finishing sixth with an 80.26m throw. Chopra (88.16m), Julian Weber of Germany (87.88m) and Da Silva (86.62m) claimed the podium.
He later improved his season best on July 5 at the inaugural Neeraj Chopra classic in India, launching an 84.51m throw for silver behind Chopra (86.18m). Yego had earlier relayed his intentions of making sure that by the time he gets to Tokyo, he is in peak form.
"I want to make sure that by the time we get to the World Championships, my form is in its peak, and that is what I am working on now," Yego said during the July 22 World Championship trials. His main target for Tokyo will be to replicate his 2015 heroics from Beijing, where he heaved a massive 92.72m to claim the World title.
"My overall target is to be on the highest podium and that is to win the World Championships. I won it in 2015, and I feel I am ready to do it again," he added.
In Silesia, Yego will take on Olympic bronze medallist Peters, 2022 European champion Weber and 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott. Also in the fold are Japan's Roderick Genki, Poland's Cyprian Mrzyglod, Moldova's Andrian Mardare, Lithuania's Edis Matusevicius and Dawid Wegner of Poland.
