Neeraj Chopra on Thursday, September 8 became the first Indian to win the coveted title, the Dimond Trophy, in the Diamond League series finale in the men’s javelin. The 24-year-old, the Olympic champion from Tokyo, threw 88.44m to finish on the top step of the podium.
Gold turned to silver, this time he gifted a 24-carat diamond to the country
Ladies and gentlemen, salute to the great #NeerajChopra To Win #diamond league in the final #zurichDL With a throw of 88.44 meters.
first indian again#indianathletics
X-*88.44*-86.11-87.00-6T pic.twitter.com/k96w2H3An3
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) 8 September 2022
In script history, Neeraj was ahead of Czech Republic’s Jakob Wadlesch and Germany’s Julian Weber. The Indian javelin player started with a foul while Vadledge took the lead in the first attempt with a throw of 84.15m. However, Neeraj threw 88.44m in his second attempt and did not improve till the end of the competition.
After this, Neeraj threw 88.00 meters in his third attempt, 86.11 meters in his fourth attempt and 87.00 meters in his fifth attempt and 83.60 meters in his last attempt. Wadlesch finished second with a best effort of 86.94m.
Neeraj’s 3 throws this time were better than the rest of the field in another major Indian show in the Diamond League final.
Neeraj completed the set
Neeraj has won Olympic gold in 2021, Asian Games gold in 2018, Commonwealth Games gold in 2018, World Athletics Championships silver in 2022. However, he said that he would like to win the Diamond Trophy to complete the set and explained the importance of Diamond League events to him.
Neeraj topped the 6-man field in Zurich on Thursday, which also featured Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakob Wadlecz.
Coutesy: Diamond League
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win the coveted Diamond Trophy, winning the title in the Diamond League final in Zurich after securing the first series earlier this year. Tokyo Olympic champions became the first Indian to finish in a stage one of the Diamond League when Lausanne finished with 89.08m in the Diamond League in August.
He has previously featured in two Diamond League finals, finishing 7th in 2017 and 4th in 2018.
The historic throw in Lausanne was also Neeraj’s return to competitive action, who had missed the Commonwealth Games due to an injury he picked up during the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, in which he won the silver medal in the final with a throw of 88.13m, the country’s first. First too.
Prior to Eugene, Neeraj had achieved his personal best with a throw of 89.94m in the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League. He finished second best behind world champion Anderson Peters, who missed the Diamond League finale in Zurich due to injury concerns following a boat attack in Granada.
Neeraj appeared in only 2 stages of the Diamond League in 2022 and a win in Lausanne and a second place in Stockholm was enough for him to make the final in Zurich.
Niraj finished fourth behind Jacob Wadlech (27 in 4 events), Julian Weber (19 in 3 events) and Anderson Peters (16 in 2 events). Neeraj finished with 15 out of 2 events. Each athlete is awarded 8 points for first place, 7 for second place, 6 for third place, and 5 for fourth place in a Diamond League stage.
— the ending —