Neeraj Chopra, India's star javelin thrower, finished second in the Lausanne Diamond League.
On his last try on Thursday, he threw 89.49 meters, his season's best throw. Chopra started the fourth round in fourth place and finished in fifth place on his fifth try, with a distance of 85.58 meters.
Chopra outperformed his Olympic mark in Paris with his sixth and final throw of 89.49 meters. He almost missed the sixth throw, but he was saved by his effort in the fifth round. After five rounds, the final tries are given to just the top three athletes.
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Chopra Shares Third Place
After finishing in second position on Thursday, Chopra currently shares third place in the Diamond League standings with German Julian Weber, both of whom have 15 points. With 21 points, Anderson Peters of Grenada leads, followed by Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch with 16 points.
With a tremendous throw of 90.61 meters in the second round, Peters won the contest. Weber's throw of 87.08 meters placed him third. In 2022, Peters set a personal best with 93.07 meters.
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What’s Next?
On September 14, the Diamond League finals will take place in Brussels. Chopra must place in the top six in the Diamond League meetings series standings in order to be eligible for the season finale.
On September 5, there will be another Diamond League event in Zurich, including a men's javelin throw competition. In 2022, Chopra won the Diamond League title. In the previous year's winner-take-all DL final held in Eugene, USA, Chopra came in second place, just behind Vadlejch. He has yet to win a DL meeting this year, and on May 10 in Doha, he came in second behind Vadlejch.
Looking back at his performance Neeraj said - "The feeling wasn't great at first, but I´m happy with my throw, especially the second-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. Even though my early throws were around 80-83 meters, 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."
With inputs from agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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