The 2022 Diamond League Finals will take place in Zurich in Switzerland on 7 and 8 September. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is the only Indian athlete who will be seen in action in this event, as he eyes his maiden Diamond League title.
The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist had previously qualified for the Diamond League finals twice – in 2017, where he finished seventh with 10 points, and then in 2018, where he finished fourth with 17 points.
Ever since his gold triumph in Tokyo, the 24-year-old has been exemplary in almost all of the competitions he has participated in. He won the silver medals in Finland’s Paavo Nurmi Games and the World Athletics Championships, and also won the gold medal in Kuortane Games.
As for his performance in the 2022 Diamond League, he competed in two events – in Stockholm and Lausanne. The Haryana-born athlete came second in Stockholm with a throw of 89.94m, whilst the event in Lausanne was his comeback after an injury which ruled him out of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
There were doubts about whether he will be able to regain his rhythm after the injury, but Neeraj silenced the doubters by winning the Lausanne Diamond League with the best throw of 89.08m. While he has crossed the 80m mark time and again, he will have his sight set on the 90m mark for this event.
Neeraj Among Six Finalists
Neeraj is among the six javelin throwers who will compete in the finals. Besides him, Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch is also a prime contender for the first place, given that he has a personal best throw of 90.88m.
However, Jamaica's Anderson Peters, who came first in the events in Stockholm and Doha earlier this year, will not be able to compete after he was assaulted on a yacht recently.
Participants in Men’s Javelin Throw:
· Neeraj Chopra (India)
· Patriks Gailums (Latvia)
· Leandro Ramos (Portugal)
· Curtis Thompson (United States of America)
· Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic)
· Julian Weber (Germany)
The men's javelin throw event will take place on Thursday, 8 September. Live action will be available on Sports18 1 SD & HD from 22:30pm onwards.
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