INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was unable to retain his Diamond League champion's title, settling for
second place with a modest performance of 83.80m on a blustery Saturday.The 25-year-old Chopra faced challenging windy conditions during the
grand finale at the Hayward Field, resulting in two fouled attempts
His best throw of the day occurred on his second attempt
His series consisted of fouls, 83.80m, 81.37m, fouls, 80.74m, and 80.90m.This marked his first throw below 85m for the season, despite his
third-place qualification for the DL Finals
In 2022, he had triumphed in the DL Finals in Zurich, achieving an 88.44m throw.Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic secured his third
Diamond League championship with a best throw of 84.24m, accomplished during his final attempt
He took the lead from the outset with an 84.01m effort in the first round.Vadlejch, who had previously won bronze at the Budapest Worlds and
silver at the Tokyo Olympics behind Chopra, had also claimed the DL title in 2017 and 2018.Interestingly, this event took place at the same
venue where Chopra had finished second in the 2022 World Championships.With a personal best of 89.94m, the Indian athlete had earlier won
two individual DL meetings in Doha on May 5 and Lausanne on June 30 before securing a historic gold in the World Championships the previous
He had become only the third javelin thrower in history to hold both Olympic and World Championships titles, winning the world title in
Budapest with an 88.17m throw.Shortly after his World Championships victory, Chopra participated in the Zurich DL leg on August 31, where he
finished second behind Vadlejch.Chopra is now gearing up for the Hangzhou Asian Games, commencing later this month, where he aims to defend
the gold medal he won in 2018 in Indonesia.
