5 players who can win the javelin throw event in the Doha Diamond League ft. Neeraj Chopra
The Diamond League 2024 moves to Doha for the third leg on May 10, Friday, at the Qatari capital of Doha. The initial two legs were played in Xiamen and Suzhou in April 2024.
In the Seashore Group Doha meeting, a lot of the world’s best track and field athletes will compete to claim the Diamond League crown in their respective events at the Qatar Sports Club.
In the men's javelin throw, a total of 10 athletes are all set to take part in the Doha Diamond League 2024 with the reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra all set to return to the campaign.
Having secured the title in Doha meet 2023 with a throw of 88.67m, Neeraj Chopra would be aiming to reclaim the crown in this edition as well. Jakub Vadlejch (88.63m) and Anderson Peters (85.88) were the second and third-best throwers in that meet.
That said, let’s take a look at the 5 athletes in contention to win the Doha Diamond League 2024.
#5 Edis Matusevičius (Lithuania)
Lithuanian javelin thrower Edis Matusevičius is one of the athletes to keep a keen eye on in the third round of the Diamond League 2024 in Doha. In the Lithuanian Championship in 2019, he threw his personal best of 89.17m and it still stands as the national record.
In the 2023 season, he threw his season's best of 84.22m in the European Games in Poland to emerge as the second-best thrower. Furthermore, in the World University Games 2023 in China, he secured the gold medal with a throw of 80.37m. He would be eyeing to be among the top throwers in the Doha meet.
#4 Kishore Kumar Jena (India)
Kishore Jena is the latest sensation in the javelin throw in India, following the footsteps of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. With a personal best of 87.54m achieved in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, Kishore Jena emerged as one of the top javelin throwers.
In Budapest's 2023 World Athletics Championships, Kishore threw 84.77m to finish at the fifth position. Having worked extremely well on his fitness levels of late, Kishore is undoubtedly one of the frontrunners to claim the crown.
#3 Anderson Peters (Grenada)
The Grenadian javelin thrower won the Doha edition in 2022 with the best throw of his career (93.07m). Later, he went on to secure title wins in Stockholm Diamond League 2022 with 90.54m.
Furthermore, in the World Athletics Championships 2022 in the United States, he threw 90.54m to top the charts. Interestingly, in the CWG 2022 in England, he settled for the second rank with a throw of 88.64m. With two Diamond titles already in his cabinet, he’s an impressive frontrunner for the crown in the Doha 2024 meet.
#2 Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic)
Without an iota of doubt, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic would be aiming to reclaim the crown after winning it in Monaco in the 2023 edition.
However, in Doha meet in 2023, Vadlejch settled for the second position with a throw of 88.63m while Neeraj Chopra clinched the top spot with a throw of 88.67m. With his best of 90.88m coming in the 2022 season, Vadlejch has upped his game since his exit from the Summer Games with a silver medal.
#1 Neeraj Chopra (India)
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has been in the form of his life after his gold medal win in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 with a throw of 87.58m. In the Diamond League 2022 final, Neeraj secured a distance of 88.44m to win the crown with Jakub Vadlejch settling for the second spot with 86.94m.
Later, in the World Championships in Hungary, he bagged a throw of 88.17m and bettered it in the Asian Games 2023 in China with a throw of 88.88m to clinch the gold medals in both instances.
Of late, Neeraj has been busy preparing hard in terms of fitness to cross the 90m barrier, which makes him the frontrunner to reclaim the Diamond League crown in Doha.