Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, the javelin thrower became the first Indian to win the precious Diamond League Finals title. Neerja Chopra Clinched the title with the top spot with a throw of 88.44m — his fourth career best. Chopra threw 88.00m, 86.11m, 87.00m, and 83.60m in his next four throws. His fourth best in his second attempt results turned out to be his winning effort.
The 24-year-old Indian superstar and now the Olympic Champion and the World Championship silver medalist and Diamond League champion. He achieved all this in just 13 months, can you imagine? He also won the Olympic Gold on the 7th of August last year in Tokyo.
He did more than 88m throws six times this season which showed the consistency, that he is much capable of. He also holds the national record of 89.94m, this season. This was Chopra’s third arrival in the Diamond League Finals. Neeraj Chopra was also awarded the Diamond Trophy and USD $30,000 prize money and a wild card for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
However, he already qualified for the World Championships as his Lausanne-leg winning throw breached the 85.20m, which was needed for the qualifying mark.
The Diamond League includes 32 Diamond Disciplines and follows a championship-style model. Athletes can earn points at the 13-series meet to qualify for the final. Neeraj Chopra made a mind-blowing return from a one-month injury and bed rest but won the Lausanne Leg of the Diamond League series on August 26 and qualified for the Finals.
Chopra has become the first Indian to bring a Diamond League meet title in Lausanne with his third best throw of 89.08m in his entire career. Although he missed the Birmingham Commonwealth Games from July 28 to August 8, we know the reason of course, because of the minor groin injury during his silver-winning performance in the World Championships in the USA in July.
