Neeraj Chopra Clinches Second In Lausanne Diamond League With Season's Best 89.49m Throw

Neeraj Chopra, India's star javelin thrower, secured second place in the Lausanne Diamond League.

He achieved his season's best throw of 89.49m on his final attempt on Thursday. Initially, Chopra was in fourth place until the fourth round but managed to reach 85.58m in his fifth attempt.

Chopra's sixth and final throw of 89.49m surpassed his performance at the Paris Olympics. He was at risk of missing the sixth throw, but his fifth-round effort saved him. Only the top three athletes after five rounds get their final attempts.

Diamond League Standings

With seven points from Thursday's second-place finish, Chopra is now joint third with Julian Weber of Germany in the Diamond League standings, both having 15 points. Anderson Peters of Grenada leads with 21 points, while Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic is in second place with 16 points.

Peters dominated the event with a massive second-round throw of 90.61m, securing first place. Weber took third with a throw of 87.08m. Peters has a personal best of 93.07m, achieved in 2022.

Chopra's Performance and Injury

Despite nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra claimed silver at the Paris Olympics on August 8 with an 89.45m throw. He had previously won gold at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. "The feeling wasn't great at first, but I'm happy with my throw, especially the second career-best throw on my last attempt," Chopra said after the event.

Chopra confirmed his participation in the Lausanne Diamond League meeting on Saturday, leaving any decision on possible surgery until after the season ends. He has been managing his groin injury since winning gold at the Budapest World Championships last year.

Upcoming Events

The Diamond League finals will be held in Brussels on September 14. To qualify for the season finale, Chopra needs to finish in the top six of the Diamond League meetings series standings. Another Diamond League meeting is scheduled in Zurich on September 5, which includes a men's javelin throw event.

Chopra was the Diamond League champion in 2022 and finished second behind Vadlejch in last year's winner-takes-all DL final in Eugene, USA. This year, he has yet to win a DL meeting and finished second behind Vadlejch in Doha on May 10.

Reflecting on his performance, Chopra said, "Even though my early throws were around 80-83m, I pushed hard in the last two attempts finishing strong. Competing at this high level, it's important to stay mentally tough and fight through."

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem had beaten Chopra for gold in Paris with an Olympic record throw of 92.97m. Peters led the competition from start to finish and stamped his class with a 90m-plus throw in the last round.

Chopra had won the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League in both 2022 and 2023 but could not repeat this success this time around.

The Lausanne event saw Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch finishing seventh with a throw of 82.03m.

Chopra's fighting spirit and determination were evident as he overcame a tough start to finish strong in Lausanne.