Neeraj Chopra has once again given a brilliant performance in the Lausanne Diamond League. This time he has broken the record of Paris Olympics in just 14 days. Neeraj Chopra had thrown 89.45 meters in the Olympic Games held in Paris this year and bagged the silver medal.
After these games, Neeraj Chopra is participating in the Lausanne Diamond League where he has broken his own Olympic record. Neeraj has broken his own record by throwing the javelin 89.49 meters away. This was Neeraj Chopra’s best throw in the Lausanne Diamond League. According to Olympics.com, Anderson Peters of Grenada took the first place by setting a new meet record with a huge throw of 90.61 meters, while Julian Weber of Germany finished third with 87.08 meters.
Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj started the evening in modest fashion, failing to breach the 85m mark in any of his first four attempts. After being fourth on the leaderboard for most of the event, he moved up to third with an 85.58m throw in his final attempt to earn an extra throw.
Competing against Peters and Weber in the final round, Neeraj achieved the second best throw of his career. The throw of 89.94m achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022 is Neeraj’s personal best and is also the national record in India.
“The feeling was not great initially, but I am happy with my throw, especially the second-best throw in my last attempt. It was a tough start, but the comeback was really good and I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed,” Neeraj said, as per Olympics.com. “Though my initial throws were around 80-83m, I worked hard in the last two attempts and won convincingly. Competing at this high level, it is important to stay mentally strong and keep fighting,” the two-time Olympic medallist added.
Paris 2024 bronze medallist Anderson Peters set a new meet record in his final attempt, breaking Keshorn Walcott’s 2015 record of 90.16m, and denied Neeraj the top spot. For the second time this month since the Paris 2024 Olympics, Neeraj Chopra was eliminated despite producing the second-best throw of his career. Just two weeks earlier 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.
Peeters looked comfortable from the start in Lausanne and set the early marker with a strong throw of 86.36m, then bettered it with 88.49m on his second attempt. Weber moved into second place with 87.08m on his second attempt and stayed there for the rest of the event.
After finishing second 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 to be held in Brussels in September. He became the first Indian athlete to win the Diamond League title in 2022 before settling for a silver medal last year. The Lausanne Diamond League meet was the fifth competition of the season for Neeraj Chopra.
Neeraj has been struggling with injury problems this season, particularly to his adductor. He admitted that this hampered his performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Earlier, he also withdrew from the Ostrava Golden Spike in May as a precaution. According to Olympics.com, the Brussels Diamond League Final will be his last event of the season.
