Despite nursing a prolonged groin injury, India’s Neeraj Chopra finished second with his season’s best throw of 89.49 meters in his last attempt at the Lausanne Diamond League on Thursday. The Indian javelin thrower narrowly missed the 90-meter mark by 51 centimeters, which he hasn’t been able to do yet in his international career. He seemed agonized after missing the feat and a possible top-spot finish in the event.
However, Neeraj Chopra managed to make a remarkable comeback to finish in the second position after being on the verge of missing the sixth and final throw. In the fifth attempt, the Indian track and field athlete sent his spear to the 85.58-meter mark, bringing him into the top three. The 26-year-old was in the fourth position until the fourth round. The sixth and final attempt is only given to the top three in the five rounds.
Greneda’s Anderson Peters, who had won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, claimed the top spot with a monster throw of 90.61 m in the last round. The two-time World Champion had struggled last year to find rhythm. But on Thursday, Peters ruled the Diamond League event from start to finish. His personal best is 93.07 meters, which he produced in 2022. Whereas Germany’s Julian Weber took the third position in the competition with 87.08 m.
Neeraj Chopra in the Diamond League Competition
With seven points from Thursday’s second-place finish, Neeraj Chopra has now climbed to the joint third spot with fifteen points along with Julian Weber in the Diamond League standings. Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who finished seventh on Thursday with 82.03 m, is second with 16 points. Anderson Peters is in first position with 21 points.
Another Diamond League meeting is scheduled for September 5 in Zurich. The star Indian athlete must finish in the top six of the Diamond League meetings series standings to qualify for the season finale on September 14 in Brussels.
Chopra is yet to win a Diamond League meeting this year, as he finished second again at the Lausanne. He had also finished second in the Doha leg on May 10 behind Vadlejch. However, it is mainly because of the groin injury he sustained last year after winning the gold in the Budapest World Championships.
Neeraj Chopra recently claimed the silver medal almost two weeks ago at the Paris Games with a throw of 89.45 m. Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan finished first on the podium by defeating the Indian thrower to win the gold medal with his personal best and record-breaking throw of 92.97 m. Nevertheless, Neeraj Chopra is the only Indian athlete to win a gold and a silver in successive Olympic Games. He had won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
