Neeraj Chopra stars in hard-fought win at Lausanne Diamond League to bag second consecutive title
Neeraj Chopra (Source: Twitter)
The Olympic champion, Neeraj Chopra continued his exceptional form in Javelin Throw and won the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday, June 30. This was his second consecutive title of the season. After clinching the title, the javelin thrower stated that he felt nervous as he was making his comeback from injury.
“I was feeling a bit nervous coming back from an injury. It was a bit cold here tonight. I am still far from my best, but I feel it is getting better. I am relieved it´s coming together well for me. A win is a win and I will take that happily. I wanted to win so I’m super happy with the results but I also want to go back to training and fix some of the things that I noticed and that is going to make me stronger. Lausanne always treats me well. Last year I won and this year too, so I look forward to coming again next year and winning again! The next competition, Budapest, will be a big one for me!” Chopra was quoted as saying to the organizers after his win.
Neeraj Chopra assures his victory with a magnificent throw of 87.66 metres
Murali Sreeshankar, who had the best performance on the night in the men’s long jump with a height of 7.88 meters, finished fifth overall despite having a season and a personal-best height of 8.41 meters. Sreeshankar set a career-best 8.41m during the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar earlier this month. He had secured the third position in Paris’s leg on June 9 for his first Diamond League podium finish. The 24-year-old, however, was unable to repeat the same thing in Lausanne.
Chopra, who had been out for a month due to a muscle injury, shockingly missed his first throw as Germany’s Julian Weber took over the event with his opening throw of 86.20 metres. Despite his poor start, Chopra was able to improve with throws of 83.52 and 85.04 metres on his second and third tries, respectively. He threw a massive throw of 87.66 metres after missing his fourth attempt to take the lead with one throw remaining. Chopra won the night despite Weber’s last throw of 87.03 metres.
