Lausanne Diamond League 2024: Neeraj Chopra finishes second as season-best throw narrowly misses 90m mark again
Neeraj Chopra saved his best for last to record the second-best throw of his career, only to be denied by Anderson Peters, who set a new meet record of 90.61m.
Athletics
India’s Neeraj Chopra missed the 90m mark by just 51cm and finished second in the men’s javelin throw event at the Lausanne Diamond League 2024 athletics competition in Switzerland on Friday.
Fresh off winning a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with 89.45m, Neeraj recorded a season-best 89.49m in Lausanne. Anderson Peters of Grenada set a new meet record with a monster throw of 90.61m to take the first place while Julian Weber of Germany settled for third with 87.08m.
Neeraj, now a two-time Olympic medallist, began the evening on a modest note and failed to breach the 85m mark on any of his first four attempts. Staying fourth on the leaderboard for most of the event, he climbed to third place with an 85.58m throw on his penultimate attempt to earn an extra throw.
Competing against Peters and Weber in the final round, Neeraj secured the second-best throw of his career. The 89.94m throw achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022 continues to be Neeraj Chopra’s personal best and is also the national record in India.
"The feeling wasn't great at first, but I'm happy with my throw, especially the second-best throw on my last attempt," Neeraj said. "It was a tough start, but the comeback was really nice and I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed.
"Even though my early throws were around 80-83 meters, I pushed hard in the last two attempts finishing strong. Competing at this high level, it´s important to stay mentally tough and fight through."
Paris 2024 bronze medallist Anderson Peters set a new meet record by breaking Keshorn Walcott’s 90.16m mark from 2015 in his final attempt to deny Neeraj the top spot.
For the second time this month, following the Paris 2024 Olympics, Neeraj Chopra was edged out despite delivering a second-best career throw. Just two weeks ago at the Summer Games, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem set a new Olympic record with a 92.97m throw, once again denying Chopra victory with a 90m effort.
In Lausanne, Peters looked comfortable from the beginning and laid down the early marker with a strong 86.36m throw before bettering it with 88.49m on his second attempt. Weber rose to second place with 87.08m on his second attempt and remained there for the rest of the event.
Following the second-place finish in the Lausanne leg, Neeraj is currently third in the overall standings and is in a strong position to qualify for the Diamond League Final which will be held in Brussels in September. He became the first Indian athlete to win the Diamond League title in 2022 before settling for silver last year.
The Lausanne Diamond League meet was the fifth competition of the season for Neeraj Chopra.
Neeraj has struggled with injury problems, primarily to his adductor, this season. He admitted that it hindered his performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Earlier, he had also pulled out of the Ostrava Golden Spike in May as a precautionary measure.
The Brussels Diamond League Final will be his final event of the season.