Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra clinched the Lausanne Diamond League 2023 title with the best throw of 87.66 m on Friday.
Neeraj was making a return from an injury that had caused him to miss some competitions after his win at Diamond League 2023 event in Doha in May. Neeraj looked a little rusty in his first attempt, which was deemed to be invalid. Germany’s Julian Webber took the lead with an 86.20 m throw. At the end of round one, Neeraj was not even among the top three athletes.
In his second attempt, Neeraj achieved a throw of 83.52 m. However, Julian was still in the lead at the end of round two. Neeraj showed improvement in his ranking, climbing to number three.
Neeraj’s third attempt was 85.02 m. With this throw, he climbed to number two. At the end of round three, he was at number two. Julian still had the lead with an 86.20 m throw.
The Indian’s fourth attempt was deemed to be invalid. However, at the end of round four, Neeraj was still placed at number two.
Neeraj’s ‘golden arm’ did its magic in the fifth attempt, achieving a throw of 87.66 m. With this, he climbed to the number one position.
In the sixth attempt and final one, Neeraj achieved a throw of 84.15 m.
Neeraj won the title as Julian slid to second with a best throw of 87.03 m. At third was Jakub Vadlech of the Czech Republic with an 86.13 m throw.
