New Delhi: Indian javelin ace Neeraj Chopra was in action for the first time after bagging the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He participated in the Lausanne Diamond League at the Pontaise Olympic Stadium on Thursday in Switzerland.
Neeraj finished second among the 10 participants, involving five athlets from the Paris Olympics men’s javelin throw final. The 26-year-old Indian track and field athlete hurled the javelin for a massive distance of 89.49m on his final attempt to finish second behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who aced the charts with a humungous 90.61m.
Watch Neeraj’s video here:
It’s not over till #NeerajChopra has his say! 🇮🇳
🎥: JioCinema / Wanda DL#CraftingVictories #LausanneDL #WandaDL pic.twitter.com/YawhhtGcpe
— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) August 22, 2024
Neeraj started his event with a below-par distance of 82.10m and only kept improving with each throw coming his way. He was at fourth spot ahead of his fifth attempt which fetched him 85.58m and allowed him the benefit of throwing a sixth throw. The sixth throw of the Haryana-based athlete read 89.49m, which was marginally better than his Paris Olympics silver-medal-throw of 89.45m.
However, Neeraj’s long-standing struggles of breaching the 90m once again eluded him from the pole position after Peters surpassed that distance in his second attempt. It was crystal clear that Neeraj would have to do what he has been undoable in his career. But it wasn’t the case this time as well.
Neeraj Chopra has now bettered his career’s second best throw for the third time in the last two months. He threw 89.34m to earn a spot in the final of the Paris Olympics. A 89.45m effort helped him finish second on the podium to Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who shattered the Olympic record with 92.97m. In his recent throw, Neeraj marked 89.49m, which wasn’t close to his career-best of 89.94m achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022.
“The feeling wasn’t great at first, but I am happy with my throw, especially the second (career) best throw on my last attempt. It was a tough start, but the comeback was really nice and I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed,” Chopra said after the event.
“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,” he added.
With seven points from Thursday’s second-place finish, Chopra is joint third alongside Weber in Diamond League standings with 15 points. Peters jumped to top spot with 21 points. Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who finished seventh (82.03m) on Thursday, is in second spot with 16 points.
(With inputs from PTI)
Indian javelin ace Neeraj Chopra was in action for the first time after bagging the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He participated in the Lausanne Diamond League at the Pontaise Olympic Stadium on Thursday in Switzerland. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
