After 2022, Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra is determined to win the Diamond League championship for the first time as he heads into the Wanda Diamond League 2025 final in Zurich, where he is a finalist and a two-time Olympian.
The Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, who finished second in the Diamond League the past two years, faces tough competition from Germany’s Julian Weber and reigning champion Anderson Peters. Chopra broke the elusive 90-meter barrier on May 16, recording a 90.23-meter throw to finish second in his season-opening Diamond League event.
But the Indian star, who won a silver medal in the Paris Olympics 2024, wasn’t satisfied with his career-best effort earlier this year. “I feel I am really fast in run-up, but I don’t think I am using the speed (to send the javelin farther) right now. In Doha, the 90m throw was really good, but technically I don’t want to say that was perfect,” Neeraj Chopra told the media ahead of the Diamond League 2025 final in Zurich.
“If my left leg is straight and if I use a perfect block, that will be a really good throw, and then I will be satisfied with my speed. You don’t know in javelin, you go maybe four or five metres also,” he added.
Andrian Mardare of Moldova, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, and Julius Yego of Kenya, the 2015 world champion, all entered the competition as athletes in the top six of the current points table. Simon Wieland of Switzerland was also added as the host nation’s representative. Even though Neeraj went over the 90-meter mark, he finished second in Doha behind Weber. On June 20, he won the Paris leg with a throw of 88.16 meters, and Weber came in second with 87.88 meters.
