File image of Neeraj Chopra competing at the Paris Olympics on August 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo)
Neeraj Chopra heaved the javelin to a season best distance of 89.49m with his final throw of the night at the Lausanne Diamond League meet on Friday to end second behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who threw a distance of 90.61m with his final throw.
Germany’s Julian Weber was third with a best throw of 87.08 metres.
Neeraj Chopra pulled off his two best throws with his final two throws of the night in a dramatic climax. After four throws, Neeraj Chopra was in fourth spot in the standings, behind Ukraine’s Artur Felfner. The last time Neeraj Chopra had finished outside the top three podium spots at a competition was in September 2018. However, with a heave of 85.58 metres, Neeraj Chopra managed to pull himself into the top three. As per the Diamond League rules, after five throws, only the top three in the standings get one more throw each.
In his final throw, Anderson Peters threw down the gauntlet with a monster throw of 90.61m. Neeraj Chopra, who was throwing the final attempt of the night in the men’s javelin event, sent the javelin to a distance of 89.49m.
Neeraj’s second place finish was commendable because it comes just weeks after he had claimed his second Olympics medal at the Paris 2024 Games — a silver medal behind Arshad Nadeem. Moreover, Neeraj had opened up about his groin injury and the effect it was having on him both physically and mentally.
Neeraj Chopra had explained at a press briefing recently how even if his groin is not hurting during a competition, the thought that the injury could flare up often prevents him from throwing at his best. “That’s the biggest fear in my mind. You don’t know when pain will come. When you do the cross steps before throwing the javelin, it puts a lot of pressure on the groin,” he had said.
Despite the injury, Neeraj Chopra had managed to register two of his top three throws at Paris Olympics: 89.34m in qualifying and 89.45m to win the silver medal in what he describes as “sabse khatarnaak (deadliest) competition in Olympic history”. The throw at Lausanne Diamond League on Friday is now Neeraj Chopra’s second best throw ever, behind the 89.94m throw he had thrown at the Olympiastadion in Stockholm in 2022.
“After Tokyo Olympics, I felt I should have continued my season like other athletes from around the world do. Luckily, at Paris, the groin injury that has hampered me for many years did not exacerbate, so I can continue my season. I will finish the season while keeping my groin as safe as possible and then return to India. After that I will decide on getting treated for the groin injury,” Neeraj had added at the press briefing.
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