Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Neeraj Chopra wins the men’s javelin throw event

After recovering from muscle strain, Neeraj Chopra has once again created a record by lifting the javelin in his hand. He has won the men’s javelin throw event in the Lausanne Diamond League 2023 of the prestigious Diamond League series in Switzerland on Saturday. Neeraj topped the event with a throw of 87.66m.

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Meanwhile, Germany’s Julian Weber is in second place with 87.03m. While Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic finished third with a throw of 86.13m. Neeraj Chopra started off with a foul in the first round. At the same time, Julian Weber took the lead with a throw of 86.20m. At the end of the first round, Neeraj was not even in the top three athletes. Then in the second attempt, Neeraj managed a throw of 83.52m. However, Julian was still in the lead at the end of the second round.

Despite this, Neeraj’s ranking improved and he reached number three. Neeraj scored 85.02m in the third attempt. With this throw, he reached number two. However, Julian still held the lead with a throw of 86.20m. In such a situation, Neeraj fouled in the fourth attempt. In the fifth attempt, Neeraj’s ‘Golden Arm’ worked its magic and achieved a throw of 87.66m. With this, he reached the first place. In the sixth and final attempt, Neeraj achieved a throw of 84.15m.

This is the second gold of Indian Javelin star Neeraj in this year. He was also a gold medalist in the Doha Diamond League. At the same time, this is Neeraj’s 8th international gold. Earlier, he had won gold in tournaments like Asian Games, South Asian Games, Olympic Games, and Diamond League.

The 25-year-old Neeraj had won gold in the Doha Diamond League on May 5 with a throw of 88.67m. He then suffered a hamstring strain, which forced him to withdraw from the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games on June 4 and the Paavo Nurmi Games on June 13. On May 29, he issued a statement and informed about it.

Neeraj got a tough fight in Lausanne Diamond League 2023. In front of him were Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic (90.88m, season’s best 89.51m), world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada (93.07m, season’s best 85.88m), Finland’s Oliver Helander (89.83m, season’s best) 87.32m), London Olympic winner Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago (90.16m, season’s best 85.85m) European champion Julian Weber of Germany (89.54m, season’s best 88.37m).

Niraj, last year’s Diamond League winner, leads the league with eight points to defend his title, Vadlejch has seven points and Peters has six. Lausanne Diamond League 2023 will be followed by leagues in Monaco (July 21) and Zurich (August 31), where the javelin throw is included. The final of the league will be held in Eugene (USA) on September 16-17.

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Moreover, Neeraj will also participate in the World Athletics Championships 2023 to be held in Budapest, Hungary. This championship will be held from 19 to 27 August. Neeraj had won a silver medal in the last season in 2022 Eugene. The Indian team has been able to win only two medals in the history of this championship, one of them in the name of Neeraj. Prior to Neeraj, in 2003, Anju Bobby George created history by winning the first medal for India in the women’s long jump competition.

Apart from Neeraj, another Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar also participated in the Lausanne Diamond League 2023. He jumped 7.75, 7.63, 7.88 and 7.59, and 7.66 meters in the first 5 attempts. However, he could not win any medal as he finished fifth.

Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Men’s Javelin Throw Results