Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Another Win for Neeraj, Sreeshankar Gets 5th Place

Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Both Neeraj Chopra and Murali Sreeshankar are likely to make it to the finals.

The Indian contingent had contrasting results in the Lausanne leg of Diamond League 2023. Whilst Neeraj Chopra secured his second consecutive win of the season in men’s javelin throw, Murali Sreeshankar could only finish fifth in the men’s long jump event.

Neeraj Chopra Secures Another Win

Neeraj, the defending champion who had started his 2023 season with a win in the Doha leg back in May, arrived in Lausanne after spending a month on the sidelines, owing to a muscular injury.

In the final round 👏

He left it late, but @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳 found the strength in his final attempt, throwing 87.66m to seal the win 💪

📸 @matthewquine#DiamondLeague 💎 #LausanneDL 🇨🇭 #India pic.twitter.com/XqfcRSQ8EJ

— Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) June 30, 2023

He did take his time to rediscover rhythm, as the start was underwhelming. from the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist. Neeraj faulted his first attempt, whereas, in his second attempt, he could only record an 83.52m throw.

The 25-year-old kept growing into the competition as he recorded 85.04m for the third throw, and while the fourth attempt saw Neeraj faulting for the second time on the day, but with an 87.66m attempt, he stood first by the end of the fifth round, which also ultimately ended up being enough to secure yet another first-place finish.

Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Men's Javelin Throw Leaderboard:

• 1 – Neeraj Chopra (87.66m)

• 2 – Julian Weber (87.03m)

• 3 – Jakub Vadlejch (86.13m)

• 4 – Oliver Helander (83.50m)

• 5 – Anderson Peters (82.20m)

• 6 – Artur Felfner (81.89m)

• 7 – Keshorn Walcott (81.85m)

• 8 – Patriks Gailums (79.45m)

• 9 – Curtis Thompson (74.75m)

Lead Extended for Neeraj

With this result, Neeraj extended his advantage in the season standings to three points. He is currently occupying the first position with 16 points, with Jakub Vadlejch in second place with 13 points, and Julian Weber following the pair with 12 points.

As for the schedule, there will be a couple of more instalments of men’s javelin throw in this year’s Diamond League, before the final showdown in the United States of America’s Eugene, scheduled to be held on 16 and 17 September. The next event will be in Monaco on 21 July, followed by the Zurich leg on 31 August.

Murali Sreeshankar Finishes Fifth

Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, on the other hand, finished fifth with a 7.88m attempt. He arrived in Lausanne in exemplary form, having recently registered his personal best jump of 8.41m at the Interstate Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar. Previously, he had also won the gold medal at the MVA High-Performance Athletics Meet in California, with an 8.29m jump.

However, the 24-year-old could not unlock his full potential on Friday, 30 June, as he could not breach the 8-metre mark in any of his six attempts. Starting the proceedings with a 7.75m jump, he improved his tally over the next two rounds, with jumps of 7.63 and 7.88m.

Ultimately, the third attempt proved to be his best, as the Commonwealth Games silver medallist could not improve in his last three attempts. LaQuan Nairn topped the charts, closely followed by Miltiadis Tentoglou, with the pair being the only ones to go north of 8m. With a 7.98m jump, Yuki Hashioka finished second.

Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Men's Long Jump Leaderboard

• 1 – LaQuan Nairn (8.11m)

• 2 – Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.07m)

• 3 – Yuki Hashioka (7.98m)

• 4 – Simon Ehammer (7.97m)

• 5 – Murali Sreeshankar (7.88m)

• 6 – Filip Pravdica (7.83m)

• 7 – Cheswill Johnson (7.78m)

• 8 – Thobias Montler (7.75m)

• 9 – Mattia Furlani (7.73m)

Sreeshankar Still a Part of Top 3

This performance helped Sreeshankar accumulate four points, taking his Diamond League 2023 tally to 10 points. Sreeshankar had to miss out on the Oslo leg of the Diamond League owing to a fixture clash with the Inter-State event, ultimately costing him a few crucial points. However, he still is comfortably positioned in the race to qualify for the finals, occupying the third position in the standings.

Before the final in Zurich, the last men's long jump event of the season will take place at the Zurich Diamond League, which is scheduled to be held on 31 August.