 "Neeraj Chopra")
Neeraj Chopra, an Olympic and world champion javelin thrower, finished in second place with a below-par throw of 83.80 meters in the early hours of Sunday, failing to defend his Diamond League championship successfully. Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic became the Diamond League champion for the third time with a best throw of 84.24m in his sixth and final attempt. He led the six-man field from the beginning following his first-round effort of 84.01m.
In the Diamond League final at Hayward Field, 25-year-old Chopra battled with the windy conditions and fouled both shots. The second throw he made was his finest of the day. In his series, he had foul, 83.80m, 81.37m, foul, 80.74, and foul, 80.90m.
This was his first below 85m throw of the season. He had qualified for the DL Finals at the third spot. He had won the 2022 DL Finals in Zurich with a throw of 88.44m.
Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic became the Diamond League champion for the third time with a best throw of 84.24m in his sixth and final attempt. He led the six-man field from the beginning following his first-round effort of 84.01m.
Vadlejch, who won bronze in the Budapest Worlds and silver in the Tokyo Olympics behind Chopra, had also clinched the DL title in 2017 and 2018 also.
More From This Section
This was the same venue where Chopra had finished second in the 2022 World Championships.
The Indian, who has a personal best of 89.94m, won two individual Diamond League meetings in Doha on May 5 and Lausanne on June 30 before clinching a historic gold in the World Championships last month.
He had become only the third javelin thrower in history to hold both the Olympic and World Championships crowns after winning the worlds title in Budapest with a throw of 88.17m.
Just a few days after winning the World Championships title, he competed in the Zurich DL leg on August 31, finishing second behind Vadlejch.
Chopra will now head to the Hangzhou Asian Games beginning later this month where he will defend the gold he had won in 2018 in Indonesia.
(With agencies inputs)
(With agencies inputs)
