Neeraj Chopra Narrowly Misses 90m Mark, Secures Second Place at Lausanne Diamond League

On Thursday, August 22, in the Lausanne Diamond League, Neeraj Chopra gave a tough effort and placed second with a season-best throw of 89.49 meters. Even though Neeraj, who had taken home silver in the Olympics in Paris, wasn’t at his best, he mustered the resolve in the final effort to give it his all, finish in second place, and narrowly miss the 90 meters again. With a throw of 90.61 meters to win first place and shatter the meeting record, Anderson Peters seemed to be the best on the day.

The circumstances looked to be a problem for Jakub Vadlejch and Neeraj that day, as the Czech thrower ultimately placed a dismal seventh. At the conclusion of the first round, Neeraj had begun with a throw of 82.10 and was ranked fourth. At that moment, Anderson Peters had seized the lead with a remarkable throw of 86.36, while Jakub Vadlejch appeared to be having difficulty at first.

89.49M BY NEERAJ CHOPRA IN THE DIAMOND LEAGUE…!!! 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/1yb3dfcmuj

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 22, 2024

The Indian ace’s second try was superior as he returned to the top 3 with a throw of 83.21 meters. After that, Peters would reach 88.49 meters, closely followed by Julian Weber at 87.08 meters, as the two gradually began to distance themselves from the remainder of the group. Artur Felfner of Ukraine scored 83.38, while Neeraj dropped to fourth place once more.

Neeraj’s third throw was only 83.13 meters since he was quickly approaching the bottom of the standings. He was still in the top 4, but his throws were still much below his usual caliber. The fourth one stayed in the same place and measured 82.34 meters.

Neeraj hit 85.58 meters on his fifth try, which was his best throw in, placing him in the top 3. Only the top 3 would compete in the final try, and Peters ended in spectacular fashion by shattering the meeting record with a throw of 90.61 meters. Neeraj subsequently surpassed Weber to take second place with a season-best throw of 89.49 meters. In the end, the German took third place.

Neeraj surpassed his career best throw of 89.45 meters in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with this effort.

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In Lausanne, Neeraj Chopra has always excelled. With a performance of 87.66 meters in 2022, the double Olympic medallist won the Lausanne Diamond League. In 2023, he placed first on the podium with 89.08 meters.

Neeraj moved up to the top 3 in the Diamond League standings for the 2024 season with his second-place performance on Thursday in Lausanne. Neeraj, who had been second in Doha earlier in the season, was in fourth place with seven points. Neeraj came in second in 2023 and won the Diamond Trophy in 2022. Before the Diamond League final in Brussels on September 13–14, he is probably going to compete in Zurich on September 5.

The only athlete not competing in the star-studded Lausanne field was defending Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem. Other competitors included Germany’s Julian Weber, bronze medallist Anderson Peters from the Paris Olympics, and Jakub Vadlejch, winner of the Diamond Trophy 2023. After losing his title as Olympic champion in Paris, Neeraj wanted to go back to his best. With a greatest performance of 89.45 meters, the Indian star finished second in the Olympics behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who took home the gold.

Neeraj was predicted to take a lengthy hiatus and think about having surgery to address a persistent groin ailment. The athlete from Haryana has previously discussed how his groin issue affected his performance at the Olympics, when he was only able to make one out of six successful legal tries. Neeraj, nevertheless, returned sooner than anticipated to participate in Lausanne. Once again, he has postponed making a surgical choice and is probably going to wait to hear back until the conclusion of the season.

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Neeraj followed up his gold medal from Tokyo with a silver in the French city of Paris, making history as the first Indian athlete to win multiple Olympic medals in track and field. The world champion, however, was unconvinced by his effort and emphasized the necessity of breaking beyond the 90-meter barrier. Arshad Nadeem’s 92.97-meter Olympic record throw did put some pressure on the Indian star, who has prided himself on his consistency during the tour.

Probably a good day for a 90-meter toss. It was also necessary. I haven’t given the 90-meter throw much thought. However, I’m thinking about it right now. After the Paris Olympics final, Neeraj told India Today, “I gave it my all.”