Neeraj Chopra becomes Diamond League 2022 Champion; first Indian to achieve the feat

Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra scripted history on Thursday when the 24-year-old athlete became the first Diamond League Champion from India with a throw of 88.44 metre during the grand final of the event in Zurich on Thursday night.

88.44m to move into the lead. The trademark No-look celebration at the end! pic.twitter.com/Ut9we5qkwI

— Prithvi (@Eighty7_Fifty8) September 8, 2022

Chopra’s throw sequence on the evening read, X, 88.44m, 88, 86.11, 87m. On his way to the title, Chopra defeated Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadljech (86.94m) and Julian Weber (83.73m) in the six-man final.

Chopra had a slow start to his evening as his first throw was red-flagged. However, not much ground was lost at this point as Vadlejch led the first round with an 84.15m throw. However, the Indian took the lead in the second round with his biggest throw of the day. It came right after his Czech rival upped the ante with an 86m throw.

However, there was no stopping Chopra with his biggest adversary in World Champion Anderson Peters no competing as the Indian threw 88m of this third throw.

Vadljech, on the other hand, remained consistent with his throws as he improved to an 86.94m after a foul attempt before he watched Chopra throw 86.11m. Weber, at this point, couldn’t improve on his night’s best with an 83.43m throw.

Chopra maintained his strong form on the night with an 87 and  throw of his final two attempts while his rivals were already exhausted to find the biggest throw of the night.

The remaining three contenders saw USA’s Curtis Thompson take the fourth spot with an 82.10m throw while Patriks Gailums (80.44m) and Portugal’s Leandro Ramos (71.96) took the final two spots.

Javelin star Chopra booked his spot in Zurich in style by winning the Lausanne Diamond League with an 89.08-meter throw late last month. The victory marked the 24-year-old athlete’s return after a month-long injury lay-off that also forced him to miss Commonwealth Games.

Chopra’s recent form suggests the final is his for the taking and could end the international season on a high with a maiden 90m throw. The star came close to breaching the mark in Stockholm in late June with an 89.94m throw to set a new national record. He recorded 89.30m at Paavo Nurmi Games in the same month, to speak of the form Chopra has been this season. Subsequently, he hurled the javelin 88.13m for a historic silver medal at the World Championships in July.

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