Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra announced his comeback in splendid fashion – by finishing first at the Lausanne Diamond League. Returning from a groin injury that he suffered at the World Athletics Championships, Neeraj stood first with a throw of 89.08m, thereby becoming the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet.
Since he was coming back from an injury, there were questions on whether the Indian javelin star will be able to find his form back after the injury. However, the Haryana-born athlete quashed all skepticism with his exemplary performance.
Though the 90m mark remains elusive for now, Neeraj was successful in breaching the 89m mark for the first time since the Stockholm event, as his best throw at the Athletics Championships was 88.13m.
With Anderson Peters and Julian Weber not participating in this event, Neeraj was one of the favourites to win this event. alongside Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch. His first effort saw the Olympic gold medallist register a distance of 89.08m, which was enough to secure the goal medal.
Neeraj threw 85.18m in his second attempt and then decided to skip two of his next three throws, with the other being a foul throw. He returned with a figure of 80.04m with his sixth throw, but by then, a first-place finish was only awaiting official confirmation.
Ever since bagging the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old has been consistently breaking his own records. Earlier this year, he secured the gold medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland, while also bagging silver medals at Paavo Nurmi Games and the World Athletics Championships.
At the Stockholm Diamond League, where he came second, Neeraj registered his career-best figure of 89.94m, which also happens to be a national record. Neeraj also was India’s solitary medallist at the World Athletics Championships, but he suffered a groin injury at that event, which forced him to withdraw his participation from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Neeraj Qualifies for Diamond League Finals
With this achievement, Neeraj qualified for the Diamond League Finals in Zurich on September 7 and 8, and also became the first Indian to do so. Despite the win, he remained on fourth spot with 15 points - with the addition of eight points on Friday. The top six after the Lausanne leg qualify for Zurich Finals.
"I am delighted with my result tonight. 89m is a great performance. I am specially pleased as I am coming back from an injury and tonight was a good indicator that I have recovered well," he said after the event.
"I had to skip Commonwealth Games due to injury and I was a bit nervous. Tonight has given me a lot of confidence to finish the season on a high, with a strong performance in Zurich DL Final," Neeraj further added.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch finished second with a best throw of 85.88m while Curtis Thompson of USA was third with a best effort of 83.72m.
(With inputs from PTI).
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