India's javelin throw ace Neeraj Chopra won the Lausanne Diamond League title with an 87.66m winning throw on Friday, June 30. Neeraj made a sensational comeback after a foul throw in the first attempt to win his second Diamond League title this season and third overall.
Neeraj recorded a famous 88.67 throw at Doha Diamond League 2023 and was a favorite to win the title at Lausanne. But he didn't get off with a promising start. After a foul throw on the first attempt, he reached an 83.52m throw in the following attempt to start his comeback.
His third attempt reached 85.04m as he moved past Jakup Vadlejch, who registered an 84.71m throw. Neeraj attempted another foul throw in his fourth attempt but surpassed Julian Weber (86.20m) with a sensational throw of 87.66m in his fifth attempt. Weber recorded an 87.03m throw in his final attempt to finish second while Vadlejch had to settle for the third finish with a 86.13m throw in his sixth attempt.
Watch Neeraj Chopra's winning throw:
The 25-year-old Olympic champion is leading the Diamond League meeting with eight points, having won an event at Doha. After the title win, he admitted that it was not his best effort but he is getting better.
“I was feeling a bit nervous coming back from an injury. It was a bit cold here tonight. I am still far from my best, but I feel it is getting better. I am relieved it´s coming together well for me. A win is a win and I will take that happily,” Chopra told reporters after winning the title.
“I wanted to win so I’m super happy with the results but I also want to go back to training and fix some of the things that I noticed and that are going to make me stronger. Lausanne always treats me well. Last year I won and this year too, so I look forward to coming again next year and win again! The next competition, Budapest, will be a big one for me!”
Meanwhile, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, failed to make headlines on Friday as he finished fifth with his best attempt of 7.88m in the men's long jump event at Lausanne.
