Neeraj Chopra finishes second in Diamond Leagu final, misses crown by 1cm

Neeraj Chopra. Pic/AFP

Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra agonisingly missed the Diamond League crown by just one centimeter as he finished second for the second consecutive year with a throw of 87.86m in the season finale here on Saturday. The 26-year-old Chopra, who had won the DL trophy in 2022 before finishing second last year, achieved his best throw of the day in his third attempt but that was 1cm short of eventual winner Anderson Peters' 87.87m effort. Grenada's Peters, a two-time world champion, produced his best throw of the day in his opening attempt. Julian Weber of Germany was third with 85.97m. Chopra, who added a silver to his Olympic medal tally in Paris following a historic gold at the Tokyo Games, thus ended his season on a high.

The Indian javelin throw superstar, who has a personal best of 89.94m and season's best of 89.49m, had a series of 86.82m, 83.49m, 87.86m, 82.04m, 83.30m and 86.46m. The top three led the seven-man field in the same order for the whole competition. Peters will collect a Diamond League trophy and USD 30,000 for emerging as the DL champion this season. Chopra will pocket USD 12,000 for his second-place finish in the grand finale which marked the end of the prestigious Diamond League series after 14 legs, as well as the end of international athletics season. The Haryana lad remained consistent throughout the season, though he won just one international event this season -- Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 18.

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra dazzles with gold at Paavo Nurmi Games

He had made the Diamond League final cut after finishing fourth in the overall standings with 14 points from his two second-place finishes in DL one-day meets in Doha and Lausanne on May 10 and August 22. Chopra has been struggling with his fitness this season and is expected to meet a doctor to rectify a groin injury that has affected him all season and came in the way of his quest to hit the 90m mark. On Friday, national record-holding 3000m steeplechaser Sable had finished ninth in a 10-man field in his maiden DL final with a mediocre time of 8 minute and 17.09 seconds to end a largely disappointing season. He had finished 11th in the Olympic Games. It was for the first time that a DL finale featured two Indians.

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