Lausanne : India’s Javelin Throw icon, Gold & Silver medalist in Olympics, Neeraj Chopra finished 2nd in Men’s Javelin Throw event in Lausanne Diamond League 2024 , with a throw of 89.49m in his 6th attempt.
This is Neeraj’s 2nd best throw after his 89.94m in 2022 Diamond League title win. He also managed Silver in Diamond League 2023.
Anderson Peters, Paris Olympics 2024 Bronze Medalist came in 1st position with a record throw of 90.81m, while Germany’s Julian Weber came 3rd with 87.08m.
Neeraj had a sluggish start today in the competition with 1st 4 throws below 85m.
He threw a disappointing 82.10m in 1st, 83.21m in 2nd, 83.15m in 3rd & 82.34m in 4th attempt. He was training Peters and Weber, Rodrick Dean throughout these 4 throws, who were placed on 1st , 2nd & 3rd positions respectively. Neeraj stood in 4th and was about to lose his 6th attempt opportunity.
However, things took a new picture from his 5th throw. In his 5th attempt he came back to form with 85.58m throw & moved to 3rd, earning 6th attempt.
Meanwhile, Peters and Weber threw 90.61m & 82.33m in their final attempts.
However, Neeraj in his last attempt delivered his 2nd best throw of 89.49m & booked his 2nd place in the standings.
The top six javelin throwers in the season’s standings qualified for the final in Belgium slated to be held on the 14th of September.
As things stand, Neeraj is in third position in the overall Diamond League standings with 14 points, level with Julian Weber, who finished third at Lausanne. Only Peters (21 points) and Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch (16 points) have secured their spot in the final to be held in Brussels.
The top six in the javelin standings qualify for the Diamond League final. Neeraj will have one last chance in the Zurich Diamond League to be held on September 5 to make the cut.
“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”, Neeraj concluded.
