New Delhi: Neeraj Chopra ended up in the top 3 for the first time at the prestigious Diamond League Meeting. The Olympic champion missed the 90m mark by a whisker. However, he bettered his own record in a star-studded field on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Chopra opened with a stunning throw of 89.94m, just 6cm shy of the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin throw, and that effort eventually turned out to be his best as he finished second. His other throws measured 84.37m, 87.46m, 84.77m, 86.67, and 86.84m, news agencies reported.
His earlier national record was 89.30m during the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 14.
World champion and season leader Anderson Peters of Grenada won the competition with a best throw of 90.31m which he came up with in this third attempt.
“Today, I feel good and after the first throw, I thought I could throw even over 90m today. But it is OK as I have more competitions coming this year,” Chopra was quoted as saying after the event, adding, “I am close to 90m now and I can throw it this year. Even though I did not win tonight, I feel very good because I did my best.”
Peters has thrown 90m-plus twice this season, 93.07m while winning the Doha leg of the Diamond League last month before a 90.75m effort at Hengelo in the Netherlands.
Julian Weber of Germany was third with a fifth-round throw of 89.08m while Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch (88.59m) of the Czech Republic was fourth.
Chopra has beaten Peters twice this month, in Turku where the athlete from Grenada was third, and in the Kuortane Games, also in Finland, where the Indian superstar had won gold with a best throw of 86.69m under wet and slippery conditions.
Chopra was making his first Diamond League appearance in four years after his fourth-place finish in Zurich in August 2018. He has taken part in seven Diamond League meets three in 2017 and four in 2018.
The prestigious one-day meet at the Swedish capital is Chopra’s biggest event ahead of the World Championships in Eugene, USA, from July 15-24. The next Diamond League Meeting where javelin throw is on the program is in Monaco on August 10.
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