India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won the Doha Diamond League 2023, returning to top form after an injury break. However, the Olympic gold medalist missed out on crossing the 90m mark, leaving fans eagerly awaiting her next performance. He won on his first attempt with a world-leading throw.
Chopra’s first throw was 88.67 which was a great way to start the new season. Despite starting well, Chopra was not satisfied with his first throw. He was leading the charts after the first attempt. Chopra’s second throw covered a distance of 86.04 metres, maintaining his lead on the charts over Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakub Wadlejch, who threw 88.63 metres, and world champion Andersen Peters, whose best effort was 85.88 metres. In his third attempt, Neeraj threw the javelin from a distance of 85.47 metres. Despite the reduction in distance from his first attempt.
Crowd favorite… Neeraj Chopra
Can you hear the mantra? ,#Neeraj Chopra #DohaDiamondLeague #Doha2023 #Indianathletics pic.twitter.com/KBlOqn6fhk— NNIS (@nnis_sports) May 5, 2023
Chopra’s 88.67m and Wadlejch’s 88.63m were just four centimeters apart at the top after the first three attempts. Thrower Andersen Peters of the Czech Republic moved up to the second spot. Neeraj fouled in his fourth attempt. In his second last attempt of the night, Neeraj threw 84.37m. Wadlejch threw 88.47m on his fifth attempt, while Anderson Peters fell behind with a throw of 82.22m.
Chopra had created history last year despite missing the Doha stage, becoming the first Indian to win a Diamond League meeting in Lausanne and then the first Indian Diamond League champion by winning the 2022 Grand Finale in Zurich. While he feels better physically and technically than last year, the competition this year is tough, and he is looking forward to a great contest in the season-opening Diamond League.
The competition includes Peters, who made the fifth longest throw in history with 93.07 m, Wadlejch, who won bronze at the 2022 World Championships and has a personal best of 90.88 m, European champion Julian Weber, 2012 Olympic champion Keeshorn Walcott, and former world Champion Julius Yego.
Chopra expressed his enthusiasm for the competition and hoped for a good result for all. She aims to break the 90m mark, considered the gold standard in the javelin world, but admits that achieving the feat in her first competition of the season could be challenging. The Doha meet also features India’s Aldhoj Paul, who will compete in the triple jump along with Tokyo Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo, defending Diamond League winner Andy Diaz Hernandez and Christian Taylor of the US.
