With a best throw of 87.66 meters, Neeraj Chopra wins the Lausanne Diamond League

 

Neeraj Chopra finished first in Lausanne to win the Diamond League for the second time in a row. Neeraj won the top spot thanks to his 87.66m best attempt.

Neeraj's initial effort resulted in a zero score. On his second effort, he went on to throw 83.52 meters. His third try, which measured 85.04 meters, was what propelled him to second place, nevertheless. On his fourth effort, Neeraj received another no mark before throwing 87.66 meters to move all the way to the top of the pile.

Julian Weber of Germany presented Neeraj with fierce competition. Weber gained the early lead with a throw of 86.20 meters on his first attempt and even came very close to surpassing the Indian in his final effort, which he made with a throw of 87.03 meters.

With a fantastic start to his season, Neeraj is getting ready for the Asian Games and the World Athletics Championship. The gold medallist from the Olympics in Tokyo has been consistently outperforming the rest of the field in the men's javelin.

With a throw of 88.67 metres, Neeraj started the year by winning the Doha Diamond League. The 25-year-old had to withdraw from the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 13 and the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands on June 4 due to a muscular strain, but he was able to make it back in time to compete in the Lausanne Diamond League.

In preparation for a pivotal year in which he will be defending both his Asian Games and Olympic gold medals, Neeraj is concentrating on staying in shape.

Neeraj will be trying to match the form he displayed in 2022 after having a solid start to the 2023 season. Neeraj returned to competition after withdrawing from the FBK Games in the Netherlands on June 4 and the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland on June 13 owing to a muscular ailment he sustained while training last month.

Last year, Neeraj placed first at the Lausanne Diamond League with a best effort of 89.08m to qualify for the Diamond League final after winning silver at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.

Neeraj became the first Indian athlete to win the Diamond Trophy at the Diamond League final in Zurich in September after placing first with a best performance of 88.44m and taking the top spot on the podium.

Murali Sreeshankar, who placed fifth in the long jump competition at the Lausanne Diamond League, was unable to place first. On his first attempt, the Indian launched himself 7.75 meters into the air. He next recorded a 7.63-meter leap before clearing 7.88 meters to enter the top three.

However, Simon Ehammer of Switzerland and Yuki Hashioka of Japan with stronger leaps edged him out in the standings. He managed to jump 7.59 meters and 7.66 meters on his fourth and fifth tries, respectively, but that wasn't enough to place him in the top three. With an 8.11-meter leap, LaQuan Nairn of the Bahamas took first place.