Neeraj Chopra finishes second in the Lausanne Diamond League with a season-best throw of 89.49 meters
Neeraj Chopra, one of India’s best javelin throwers, placed second in the Lausanne Diamond League competition in Switzerland. During the tournament, he threw 89.49 meters, which was his season-best. Chopra was just 51cm short of the 90-meter barrier, according to Olympics.com.
Anderson Peters of Grenada won the tournament and established a new record with a spectacular throw of 90.61 meters. Julian Weber of Germany finished third with a throw of 87.08 meters. Bronze was Peters’s previous Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Games.
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
According to Neeraj Chopra, “It was a tough start, but…”
“The feeling wasn’t great at first, but I’m happy with my throw,” he stated after the tournament, “especially the second (career) best throw on my last attempt.” Although it wasn’t easy at first, the turnaround was fantastic, and I was proud of the perseverance I shown. Despite my early throws being between 80 and 83 meters, I worked hard in the next two tries to finish strongly. When competing at this level, mental toughness and perseverance are essential.
Neeraj is now third in the overall standings after his second-place finish in the Lausanne race. This puts him in a good position to make it to the Diamond League Final, which is slated for September in Brussels. In 2022, Neeraj created history by being the first athlete from India to win the Diamond League championship. The previous year, he added a silver medal to his collection.
Neeraj Chopra’s 2024 Olympic silver medal in Paris
On August 7, Neeraj Chopra, representing India, won the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw at the Olympics in Paris with a best throw of 89.45 meters. In the men’s javelin throw, Chopra was unable to hold onto his gold medal, but Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan stole the show with a record-breaking 92.97 meters, earning Pakistan its first gold medal in the Olympics since 1984. In addition, Chopra became the second male athlete to win two gold medals in the Olympics in a single competition. So far, just two athletes have won consecutive Olympic medals: Sushil Kumar, a wrestler, in 2008 and 2012, and PV Sindhu, a shuttler, in 2016 and 2021.
