Neeraj Chopra Diamond League: Breaks his own national record, looking forward to touch 90m this year

 Highlights from the Neeraj Chopra Diamond League 2022: Chopra placed second at the Stockholm Diamond League with a huge throw of 89.94 metres.

 

Neeraj at Stockholm diamond league(Photo credit:Adda247)

Neeraj Chopra Diamond League 2022 Highlights:Neeraj Chopra returned to Diamond League action for the first time in four years as he shattered his own national record for the second time in a month. With a huge throw of 89.94m on Friday, June 30, Chopra placed second at the Stockholm Diamond League.

Neeraj Chopra ends his Diamond League campaign with his last throw  of 86.84m

1st throw -89.94 
2nd throw - 84.37
3rd throw -  87.46
4th throw - 84.77
5th throw - 86.67
6th throw - 86.84

Neeraj Chopra's fifth effort covered a distance of 86.67 metres! He has one more attempt left and is still in second place right now.

Report card at Round 5(Photo Credit:The Indian Express)

All you need to know:

Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic champion, finished in the top three at the prestigious Diamond League Meeting on Thursday but just missed the 90-meter mark in front of a crowded field. The 89.94-meter opening throw by the 24-year-old Chopra, the second-place finisher, was breathtaking and came within 6 centimetres of the 90-meter mark, the javelin throw's gold standard.

His other throws included lengths of 84,37, 87,46, 84,77, 86,67, and 86,84 metres. He broke his previous national mark of 89.30m, which he had achieved on June 14 in Turku, Finland, during the Paavo Nurmi Games, where he came in second.

Anderson Peters of Grenada, the reigning world champion and leader of the season, won the event with a best throw of 90.31 metres, which he produced on his third try.

                            "I feel great today, and after my first throw, I believed I could throw even more than 90 metres today. But it's okay because I still have competitions this year, Chopra stated following the event."

                    "I can throw it this year because I am almost 90 metres presently. Even though I lost tonight, I still feel great knowing that I gave it my all. When winning the Diamond League leg in Doha last month, Peters threw 93.07 metres. The following month, he threw 90.75 metres in Hengelo, the Netherlands.

With a fifth-round throw of 89.08 metres, German competitor Julian Weber came in third. Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo Jakub Vadlejch (88.59 metres) came in fourth.

Vitezslav Vesely, a third Czech athlete and bronze medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, finished seventh in the eight-man competition with 82.57m.

In Turku, where the Grenada-born athlete finished third, and at the Kuortane Games, also in Finalnd, where the Indian superstar won gold with a best throw of 86.69m in slick and rainy circumstances, Chopra defeated Peters both times this month.

Neeraj Chopra celebrating after 89.94 throw(Photo credit:News18)

With his opening throw, Chopra gave fans optimism that he would make history by being the first Indian to triumph in a Diamond League competition. Nevertheless, he followed discus thrower Vikas Gowda as the second Indian to place in the top three of a Diamond League tournament.

Gowda, a gold medalist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games who retired in 2017, achieved four career top-three finishes in Diamond League competitions. In New York in 2012, Doha in 2014, and Shanghai and Eugene in 2015, he had placed second and third, respectively.

Following his fourth-place performance in Zurich in August of last year, Chopra was competing in the Diamond League for the first time in four years. Seven Diamond League meets—three in 2017 and four in 2018—have seen him compete.

Chopra's largest competition before the World Championships, which will take place in Eugene, Oregon, from July 15–24, is a famous one-day meet in the Swedish capital.

Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian to win a gold medal in athletics at the Olympics.

The javelin throw will be part of the schedule for the next Diamond League Meeting on August 10 in Monaco.

As it will take place just a few days after the Birmingham CWG (July 28 to August 8), where he will be defending his championship, it is unknown if Chopra will participate.