Neeraj Chopra confirms he will participate in Lausanne Diamond League
Neeraj is currently occupying fourth spot in the Diamond League standings with seven points to his name, seven adrift of Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch, who is sitting at the summit. The final will be held in Brussels on September 1, 2024.
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FollowIndia's javelin star Neeraj Chopra, who won a silver medal at the recently concluded Paris Olympics, has confirmed that he will be competing at the Lausanne Diamond League later this month. The 26-year-old is currently training is Magglingen, Switzerland, with his coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwaha.
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Neeraj, who won the gold medal at Tokyo Olympics 2021, failed to defend his title in Paris, despite producing a season's best effort of 89.45m in the final at Stade de France. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal in the French capital with a monstrous throw of 92.97m, the new Olympic record.
"Nadeem is a very hardworking player and (I have) competed against him always full of positivity. That day too I was quite sure that we would have a good fight," said Chopra during a video interaction with the media, organised by JSW. This was not the first time Neeraj and Nadeem shared the podium. In the 2023 World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Neeraj won the gold medal by launching the javelin to a distance of 88.17m, while Nadeem took the silver with a best effort of 87. 82m.
In the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Neeraj won the title with a throw of 88.06m, while the Pakistani took the bronze medal with his best effort of 80.75m. Neeraj has been one of the most consistent javelin throwers of this generation, having won almost all the major tournaments in the world so far. However, the Haryana-born athlete is yet to touch the 90m mark, with his best effort being 89.94m, recorded in 2022.
"After he made an Olympic record on his second attempt, it created pressure on everyone; but since i had competed with him previously, I was quite sure that I will break his record after my second attempt, which was close to 90m (89.45m), but somehow my body didn't allow,"
"It is never easy to perform in the Olympics, especially when you are defending your medal. From there (second throw), I knew that I can breach the Olympic record but somehow I was not able to do as my body didn't allow. I am happy that I won a silver medal for the country; but I will work on things that are needed to recover well," added Chopra.
When asked which event Chopra is targeting next, he said, "I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which begins August 22." Neeraj is currently occupying fourth spot in the Diamond League standings, with seven points to his name, seven adrift of Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch, who is sitting at the summit. The final will be held in Brussels on September 1, 2024.
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