Neeraj Chopra | First Indian to Win Diamond League Finals

Neeraj Chopra, an Olympic gold medalist in javelin throwing, became the first Indian to win the prestigious Diamond League Finals title on Thursday.

Chopra started with a foul but quickly rose to first place with a throw of 88.44m his fourth career best in his second attempt, which proved to be his winning effort. His subsequent throws measured 88.00m, 86.11m, 87.00m, and 83.60m.

Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic came in second with a best throw of 86.94m in his fourth attempt. Julian Weber of Germany finished third with an 83.73m best distance.

The Olympic champion, World Championships silver medalist, and Diamond League champion is now 24 years old. He had accomplished all of this in just 13 months. On August 7, last year, he won Olympic gold in Tokyo.

He has thrown 88m or more six times this season, demonstrating his consistency. He currently holds the national record of 89.94m, which he set this season.

Chopra was competing in his third Diamond League Finals. He finished seventh and fourth in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Chopra was also presented with a Diamond Trophy, USD 30,000 in prize money, and a wild card to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023.

The Diamond League consists of 32 Diamond Disciplines organized in a championship format. At the 13-series meet, athletes earn points to advance to the finals of their respective disciplines.

He has already qualified for the World Championships, as his Lausanne-leg winning throw exceeded the qualifying mark of 85.20m.

Chopra had won the Diamond League series’ Lausanne leg on August 26 and qualified for the Finals here, following a one-month injury layoff.

With his third career-best throw of 89.08m, he became the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet in Lausanne.

He was unable to compete in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games due to a minor groin injury sustained during his silver-medal performance at the World Championships in the United States in July.

The six-man field in Zurich was missing world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a boat attack in his home country last month.

Outside of the Olympics and World Championships, the Diamond League Finals is one of the most prestigious tournaments. Neeraj has finished first in his third appearance in the Diamond League Finals, after finishing seventh and fourth in his previous two appearances.

In this manner, he concluded his international season with yet another outstanding performance. His only hiccup was a groin injury that kept him out of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in 2022. Given his current form, Neeraj would have finished on the podium in Birmingham 2022 as well.