Neeraj Chopra, the World Champion and Olympic gold medalist, secured the second position in the men’s javelin throw event held in Zurich during the early hours of Friday. His best throw measured 85.71 meters. Despite recently winning India’s first-ever gold at the World Athletics Championships, Chopra couldn’t retain his Diamond League title. He narrowly missed out on the top spot to Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, whose throw measured 85.86 meters, earning him the trophy. Germany’s Julian Weber claimed the third position with a top throw of 85.04 meters.
Chopra’s initial attempt saw a throw of 80.79 meters, and Lithuania’s Edis Matusevičius momentarily took the lead with an 81.62-meter throw. The first round concluded with Edis in the lead. In his second attempt, Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic achieved an impressive 83.46 meters, pushing Edis and Neeraj down a rank each. Neeraj’s second attempt resulted in a foul, keeping him in third place. Subsequently, Julian Weber of Germany achieved a throw of 84.75 meters, causing Neeraj to drop to fifth place. The second round ended with Weber leading, and Neeraj at the fifth position.
Neeraj’s third attempt also resulted in a foul, maintaining his fifth position. Julian Weber maintained his lead at the end of the third round. In the fourth attempt, Jakub from the Czech Republic surged ahead in the 10-athlete field with a throw of 85.86 meters. Neeraj held onto the fifth spot. Neeraj’s fourth throw was a significant 85.22 meters, elevating him to the second spot. Jakub concluded the fourth round in the lead, with Neeraj in second place.
Neeraj’s fifth throw was declared a foul, but he had done enough to secure the second spot. Despite being the World Champion, he committed his third foul in the event. He maintained his second position at the end of the penultimate round, with Jakub still leading, despite also committing a foul.
In the end, Neeraj secured a second-place finish and was unable to retain his Diamond League title. His final throw measured 85.71 meters, narrowly missing out on the gold, which was claimed by Jakub. Meanwhile, India’s Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth in the men’s long jump competition, achieving a best jump of 7.99 meters. Although he remained competitive for more than half of the event, Sreeshankar’s performance didn’t match up in the latter part, causing him to drop in the rankings.
Greece’s Miltidias Tentoglou clinched the gold with an 8.20-meter jump, while Tamay Gayle secured second place with his jump of 8.07 meters. The third spot was taken by USA’s Lawson Jarrion with a jump of 8.05 meters.
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