“I'm happy; I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed” - Neeraj Chopra breaks down his performance at the Lausanne Diamond League
After a silver-medal finish at the Paris Olympics, Neeraj Chopra is back on the field, this time competing at the Lausanne Diamond League. Despite battling an injury that has held him back recently, the Indian impressed at the Pontaise Olympic Stadium, registering a season-best throw on his last attempt to finish second.
Chopra’s campaign in Switzerland got off to a lukewarm start, as he registered 82.10, 83.21, 83.13, and 82.24 on his first group attempts. However, just when a top-three finish was beginning to look out of reach for the 26-year-old, he made a resounding comeback, achieving a mark of 85.58m that put him near the top of the chart.
He followed that up with a season-best throw of 89.49m, sealing a second-place finish behind Grenada's Anders Peterson, who had won bronze in Paris.
Post the meet, Neeraj Chopra broke down his performance for the media, explaining that he didn't feel the rhythm at first, but was happy with the mental toughness he showed in finishing strong.
“The feeling wasn't great at first, but I'm happy with my throws, especially the season-best throw on my last attempt. It was a tough start, but the comeback was really nice and I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed. Even though my early throws were around 80-83 meters, I pushed hard in the last two attempts finishing strong. Competing at this high level, it's important to stay mentally tough and fight through," he said (via The Indian Express).
A breakdown of Neeraj Chopra's 2024 season
For Neeraj Chopra, a groin injury that has been following him for a while meant that the javelin thrower had a later start to his season than preferred. He made the most of it, nonetheless. His first meet of the year was the Doha Diamond League in May, where he finished second with a throw of 88.36m.
He went on to win both the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition and the Paavo Nurmi Games, achieving marks of 82.27m and 85.87m respectively. At the Paris Olympics, Chopra impressed in the qualification, making it to the finals on top of the leaderboard with a season-best throw of 89.34m. He went on to post a mark of 89.45 to win silver in the finals. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem clinched the gold with a 92.97m throw.
With a brand new season best of 89.49m at the Lausanne Diamond League, Neeraj Chopra has proved that he's moved on from his Olympic heartbreak. The Indian currently stands third in the rankings to qualify for the Diamond League Finals and looks like a strong contender to reclaim his 2022 title.