01 July,2023 01:49 AM IST | Lausanne | mid-day online correspondent
Neeraj Chopra (Pic: AFP)
Returning to action after a one-month injury lay-off, Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra clinched his second straight podium finish of the season at the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League in a star-studded field on Saturday. His fifth attempt of 87.66m extended his lead over others, with Julian Weber of Germany managing only 87.03m in the last attempt.
With not an ideal beginning to his campaign in Lausanne, Chopra began his first attempt with a foul throw. He registered his first legal throw in the second attempt with a throw of 83.52m, but he was placed third behind Julian Weber (86.20m) and Jakub Vadlejch (84.71m). Registering an attempt of 85.04m on his third attempt, Chopra moved past Vadlejch to take the second place, he eventually took the lead on his fifth attempt with a throw of 87.66m. Weber finished second despite having bettered his mark in the final attempt with a throw of 87.03m, while Jakub Vadlejch finished third with his best attempt of 86.13 in his sixth throw.
The 25-year-old Indian superstar had made a perfect start to the Diamond League season with a top podium finish in Doha on May 5 with a fourth career-best throw of 88.67m but suffered a muscle strain while training later that month.
He issued a statement on May 29 stating his injury and pulled out of the FBK Games on June 4 at Hengelo (the Netherlands) and Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 13 as a precautionary measure.
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But he did not miss any Diamond League competition as the subsequent legs in Rabat, Rome, Paris and Oslo did not have men's javelin events in the roster.
In action in Lausanne were also Tokyo Olympics silver medallist and season leader Jakub Vadlejch (SB: 89.51m, PB: 90.88m) of Czech Republic, world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada (SB: 85.88m, PB: 93.07m), Oliver Helander (SB: 87.32m, PB: 89.83m) of Finland, 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (PB: 85.85m, SB: 90.16m) of Trinidad and Tobago and Germany's Julian Weber (SB: 88.37m, PB: 89.54m).
Having won the Doha Diamond League event, Chopra is currently leading the standings, with eight points, followed by Vadlejch with seven points, and Peters with six points.
