NEW DELHI: Star India javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday finished second in Doha Diamond League, finishing with the best attempt of 88.36m.
The Olympic and world champion missed the top spot by a whisker, falling just 2 centimeters short of Jakub Vadlejch’s winning effort of 88.38m.
The 26-year-old Chopra trailed Czech Republic veteran Vadlejch — who won the title with his third round throw of 88.38m — all through the competition.
Chopra made a last ditch effort but his final round throw fell 2cm short of Vadlejch’s mark as the Indian superstar failed to defend the title he had won won last year .
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters took the third sport with a best throw of 86.62m.
Kishore Jena’s Diamond League debut ended in disappointment as he was eliminated after three rounds of throws, with 76.31m being his best. He began with a 75.72m, then fouled his second effort, before coming up with 76.31m to be at ninth after three throws each by all the 10 competitors.
The 28-year-old Jena has a personal best of 87.54m, a performance that fetched him a silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, but it was not his day on Friday.
Vadlejch had won a silver in the Tokyo Olympics and a bronze in the 2023 World Championships, the two events in which Chopra had won gold.
Chopra had won the 2023 Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.67m, ahead of Vadlejch (88.63) and Peters (85.88m).
The next Diamond League meeting which has men’s javelin as a discipline will be in Paris on July 7.
At each DL meeting, athletes are awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points for ranking first to to eighth respectively. The top six javelin throwers will compete in the Diamond League Finals in Brussels on September 13-14 and the winner will lift the DL champion’s trophy.
(With inputs from PTI)
The Olympic and world champion missed the top spot by a whisker, falling just 2 centimeters short of Jakub Vadlejch’s winning effort of 88.38m.
The 26-year-old Chopra trailed Czech Republic veteran Vadlejch — who won the title with his third round throw of 88.38m — all through the competition.
Chopra made a last ditch effort but his final round throw fell 2cm short of Vadlejch’s mark as the Indian superstar failed to defend the title he had won won last year .
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters took the third sport with a best throw of 86.62m.
Kishore Jena’s Diamond League debut ended in disappointment as he was eliminated after three rounds of throws, with 76.31m being his best. He began with a 75.72m, then fouled his second effort, before coming up with 76.31m to be at ninth after three throws each by all the 10 competitors.
The 28-year-old Jena has a personal best of 87.54m, a performance that fetched him a silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, but it was not his day on Friday.
Vadlejch had won a silver in the Tokyo Olympics and a bronze in the 2023 World Championships, the two events in which Chopra had won gold.
Chopra had won the 2023 Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.67m, ahead of Vadlejch (88.63) and Peters (85.88m).
The next Diamond League meeting which has men’s javelin as a discipline will be in Paris on July 7.
At each DL meeting, athletes are awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points for ranking first to to eighth respectively. The top six javelin throwers will compete in the Diamond League Finals in Brussels on September 13-14 and the winner will lift the DL champion’s trophy.
(With inputs from PTI)
