New Delhi: Indian track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra finished second in the men’s javelin throw competition at the Diamond League Final 2024 on Saturday held at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. The 26-year-old missed the title by a whisker.
Neeraj’s best recorded throw of 87.86m of the night came in his third attempt, though it wasn’t sufficient to pip Grenada’s Anderson Peters’ 87.87m mark which came in the very first attempt of the event. Peters, who topped the Diamond League series round with 29 points, claimed the title. He also set the meet record with a 90.61m throw during the Lausanne Diamond League meet.
Neeraj Chopra Brilliant Throw of 87.86m 💥
He finishes as Runner up of Diamond League 2024 , Just short of 1 cm from Champion Peters 💔
Despite Groin Injury, Neeraj gave his best 🇮🇳👏pic.twitter.com/rbmzBNOXRj
— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) September 14, 2024
Neeraj started the competition with a 86.82m throw, which only kept him in the second place from the beginning as Peters led the charts throughout the final with his best throw coming itself in the first attempt. Neeraj’s next throw was an underwhelming 83.49m followed by the best throw of the night (87.86m), which was nowhere near his season best throw of 89.49m in Lausanne.
The fourth and fifth attempts were again below-par distances of 82.04m and 83.30m before he finished the event with 86.46m throw to concede the title to Peters. Neeraj has finished as the runner-up in the Diamond League Final for the second successive year after losing to Jakub Vadlejch last year in Eugene. The star Indian athlete won the title in 2022 in Zurich with his best distance touching 88.44m that night.
Neeraj Chopra’s second finishes continues
Neeraj Chopra has finished second in four out of six competitions he has participated in the men’s javelin throw event. He started the season with Doha Diamond League, where he marked 88.36m but finished second to Vadlejch (88.38m).
He failed to defend his gold medal at the Paris Olympics after the 90m challenge enforced him to settle for silver with his then season best throw of 89.45m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem bagged the gold medal with an Olympic record throw of 92.97m.
Neeraj finished second at the Lausanne Diamond League despite marking his season best throw of 89.49m. It was Peters who breached the 90m (90.61m) to take the pole position. The runners-up finish at the Diamond League Final in Brussels only added to his struggles from the top spot in major events.
He finished first at the Federation Cup in Odisha (82.27m) and Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland (85.97m), though the two competitions were trivial in front of Olympics and Diamond League Final.
Neeraj Chopra’s best recorded throw of 87.86m of the night came in his third attempt, though it wasn’t sufficient to pip Grenada’s Anderson Peters’ 87.87m mark which came in the very first attempt of the event. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
