Neeraj Chopra Secures Spot in Diamond League Final in Brussels

The Indian two-time Olympic medallist in javelin throw Neeraj Chopra finished fourth in the overall standings at the end of its 14 series meetings across the world to qualify for the season finale of the Diamond League. The final is scheduled in Brussels on September 13-14.
Those 14 came from his two second-place finishes in the one-day Diamond League meets in Doha and Lausanne, respectively. Chopra skipped the last series meet in Zurich on Thursday.
The 26-year-old Indian is two points behind the Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlech, while Grenada's Anderson Peters and German star Julian Weber occupy the top two positions with 29 and 21 points, respectively. Peters had beaten Weber in Zurich.

Joining them in the top six to secure their berths in Brussels are Moldova's Andrian Mardare with 13 points and Japan's Roderick Genki Dean with 12 points.

Meanwhile, the gold winner in Paris Olympics, Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, with a mammoth throw of 92.97 metres, was out of the top six with only five points.

The 25-year-old Chopra won gold in the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021 and added a silver to his kitty in the Paris edition last month, but he has been struggling with his fitness for this season. Presently training in Switzerland, Neeraj spoke about his struggles with a long-standing groin injury and said he will consult a doctor and decide on getting operated after the season ends with the DL final.

The Panipat lad had finished second in the Diamond leg in Lausanne, beaten by Peters, whose throw measured 90.61m.

Chopra had won the Diamond League Final in 2022 and was a runner-up to Jakub Vadlech in 2023. He set a national record of 89.94m at the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League in 2022, and landed his career's second-best of 89.49m at the Lausanne meet last month. The silver-winning effort in Paris was a fine 89.45 metres.

The DL finale will mark the close of Chopra's season before the long haul back home.