Rohit Sabhajeet Yadav (born 6 June 2001) is an Indian javelin thrower. He won the bronze medal at the 2026 Asian Games.
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Early life
Rohit Yadav was born on 6 June 2001, in Dabhiya village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, into a humble family with deep sporting background. His father, Sabhajeet Yadav, a farmer and former decathlete, was determined that his sons take up javelin throw, but the family could not afford a proper javelin. So he began cutting javelins out of wild bamboo found near the village and used them to train Rohit and his two younger brothers.
Career
Yadav made his international debut at the 2016 Gymnasiade in Trabzon, where he won the gold medal with a throw of 69.26 m.
At the 2017 Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, he won the silver medal with throw of 74.30 m. He was later disqualified following a doping violation after testing positive for stanozolol in a sample collected at the 2017 National Youth Championships. He received a one year suspension and his medal was stripped.
At the 2022 World Championships, he finished tenth with a throw of 78.72 m, and later finished sixth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 82.22 m.
In 2023, after making a personal best throw of 83.40 m at the National Federation Cup, he picked up an elbow ligament injury. Forced to undergo surgery and an extended rehabilitation period, he missed the World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games and eventually the 2024 Olympic Games.
At the 2025 Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru, he finished tenth with a throw of 77.11 m. At the 2025 World Championships, he finished 28th among 37 athletes in the qualification round with a throw of 77.81 m and failed to advance to the final.
Yadav finished seventh at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with a throw of 81.56 m. At the 2026 Indian Open, a WACT Silver level meet in Bhubaneswar, he recorded a personal best of 87.68 m on his final attempt to win gold, registering the second-best throw ever by an Indian, behind only Neeraj Chopra.