Neeraj Chopra, an Olympic champion, made history on Thursday when he won the renowned Diamond League trophy, a top-tier athletics competition, by throwing the farthest of his career (88.44 metres). This was one of his biggest victories in his career.
The 24-year-old javelin thrower’s first effort was called a “no throw,” which did not bode well for him. With a throw of 84.15 metres, Jakub Vadlejch gained the advantage. In his second effort, he had a miraculous comeback, throwing 88.44 metres, which put him on top of the leaderboard. With an 86.00 m throw, Vadlejch was after him.
The Olympic gold medallist extended her javelin throw to 88.00 metres by building on the momentum she had created with her last throw. Throughout the third effort by all athletes, he held onto his lead. Since his throw was called a “no throw,” Vadlejch, his closest rival, lost momentum.
Neeraj’s javelin throw covered 86.11 metres on his fourth attempt. Vadlejch was Neeraj’s closest rival after his fourth effort, throwing 86.94 metres, but Neeraj was still in the lead.
Javelin was launched by Neeraj 87.00 metres away. After five attempts from each participant, he was still in the lead. Vadlejch was chasing him, but he was still a long way behind the great Indian athlete. His fifth effort saw him throw 83.95 metres.
In terms of athletics, Neeraj appeared poised to make history for India. He travelled 83.60 metres in his last effort. The competition had plenty of opportunity to surpass Chopra, but they failed to do so this time around as well. Chopra won the final with the best throw of 88.44 m, which came on his second attempt. After fouling his throw, Vadlejch had one last chance, but he squandered it.
Neeraj earlier in August won the Diamond League championship after winning the Lausanne leg on Friday. Neeraj withdrew from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games owing to a groyne issue.
He had recovered from the injury he sustained while taking home silver at the World Championships in the USA in July, and he made a miraculous comeback to capture the title with a throw of 89.08 metres on his first try. He passed his third and fifth tries in the event, registering three valid throws (85.18 in second and 80.04 in sixth).
Chopra won the prestigious Diamond League Meeting in Lausanne with a victory with one of his greatest throws from the competition. He was the first Indian to do so.
