Paris Olympic silver medalist Neeraj Chopra fell just 0.1 centimeter short of winning the title as he finished second with a best throw of 87.86m at the Diamond League final at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium on Sunday.Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win the Diamond League trophy in 2022.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters, the Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, won in 87.87m. The 2023 European Games champion, Julian Weber of Germany, won with 85.97m.
Jakub Wadlejc of Czechia failed to qualify and was replaced by Timothy Hermann of Belgium, who eventually clocked 76.46m.
Two-time Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra got off to a great start, throwing 86.82 meters to finish second behind Peters, whose winning throw came in the first round Julian Webber also hit the best of his in the first attempt.
Chopra followed the first throw to 83.49 metres. He threatened to pass Peters on his third attempt but fell an inch short. After the Indian spear ace, the shots read 82.04 metres, 83.30 meters and 86.46 metres.
It was the fifth time that Neeraj Chopra appeared in the Diamond League final. He finished seventh in 2017, fourth the following year and won the Diamond League crown in 2022 with a throw of 88.44m. Neeraj Chopra turned 83 last year.
The 26-year-old qualified for the final after amassing 14 points in two Diamond League games this season. He finished second in Doha in May and fourth overall in Lausanne last month. Seven athletes competed in the men’s javelin final.
Chopra had set a national record of 89.94 at the 2022 Diamond League in Stockholm, and her silver-winning effort in Paris was an impressive 45 metres.
On Sunday, Neeraj revealed he had competed in Brussels with a fourth fracture of his left hand, an injury he sustained in training earlier in the week “This is the last race of the year and I wanted to take my the season ends on the track. Even though I didn’t meet my own expectations, it was a time where I feel I learned a lot. Now I am fully fit, ready to go and determined to come back,” he said in a post on social media, about another ‘grueling challenge’.
It has been a successful season according to every major player. However, like that night at the Stade de France in Paris, Neeraj’s performance at the King Baudouin Stadium on Saturday night charmed a man in search of something elusive.
The Diamond League final is an event of two halves for Neeraj. His two best shots of the night came in the first half. And they had one thing in common: Neeraj stood tall at the end of his chase. It seemed intuitively obvious that the left foot blocked the path when trying to avoid slipping on the left side. In particular, the third tax could set a precedent for the future. Nice easy movement on the runway, straighter, unflinching left foot at release point, and finishing right in the white line. Result: 87.86m.
But in each of the last three shots, Neeraj reverted to the form he had seen before. When he tried to get that little bit extra – two inches, actually – he lost his balance as he leaned to his left, released the trigger and fell.
Conditions at night also did not involve heavy taxes. All throwers took to the stage in full winter gear. “It was a bit cold tonight and there was no track in the heated area, just grass. Coming to the stadium, the track is a little bit harder and the difference is bigger, so it’s been a little tougher for our javelin throwers,” Julian Weber, who finished third, said after the event.
After the sixth shot, Neeraj fell again but got up with a roar. Now, that’s a familiar thing. He seemed happy with what he was able to present in the last tournament bhandu released in 2024 but it was far from enough. He exchanged some words with his coach Klaus Bartonietz and a ceremonial hug with his opponents followed after the period ended. And finally, there were some laughs as the Indian star posed for a few routine poses with her fans.
