Neeraj Chopra finished second in Lausanne Diamond League© X (Twitter)
Fresh from his second-place finish in the Paris Olympic Games 2024, India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra failed to bag the top-podium spot yet again, salvaging the second spot in the Lausanne Diamond League on Thursday. Neeraj didn't look at his best the entire contest, yet managed to throw his season best of 89.49m in his last attempt, but that was only good enough for a silver-medal finish. Though Neeraj remained just inches away from breaching the 90-metre mark, his reaction to the final effort said everything about what he was feeling.
Chopra, who won India a silver medal at the recently-concluded Paris Olympics, was at fourth spot till the fourth round before sending his spear to 85.58m in his fifth attempt. Knowing that he needs to do better in order to finish in the top three, Neeraj gave his all in the final throw, producing an effort that measured 89.49m, which was better than his performance in the Paris Olympics. Yet, not better enough to beat Anderson Peters of Grenada who claimed the No. 1 spot with a throw of 90.61 meters.
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Julian Weber of Germany took the third spot with 87.08m.
"The feeling wasn't great at first, but I´m 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." Nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra claimed a silver in the Paris Olympics on August 8 with an 89.45m throw, having won a historic gold in the Tokyo edition of the Games three years ago.
Peters, who had struggled to find his form last year, led the competition from beginning to end and he stamped his class with the 90m-plus throw in the last round. He has a personal best of 93.07m which he had produced in 2022.
With seven points from Thursday's second-place finish, Chopra will be on joint third spot with Weber on Diamond League standings with 15 points. Peters jumped to top spot with 21 points.
With PTI Inputs