Year Ender 2022 Neeraj Chopra: India's javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra created history in 2022. After becoming the first track and field athlete from India to win a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he lifted a title that was a dream for Indian players till now after he won Diamond League Finals.
Chopra made the dream of crores of Indians come true in the month of September this year when the 24-year-old became greatest Indian athlete of all time by achieving the title in Zurich.
Neeraj Chopra couldn't participate in Commonwealth Games 2022 due to an injury. He was out of the field for a month.
The story of Diamond League:
However, he made a spectacular comeback on the 26th of July by winning the Lausanne stage of the Diamond League Series to qualify for the finals. Chopra won the title in Lausanne with a throw of 89.08m on his very first attempt. In Lausanne, he made the third-best throw of his career.
The star Indian athlete had also qualified for the Diamond League Finals in 2017 and 2018. He finished seventh in 2017 and fourth in 2018.
The good news for Chopra this year was that among the six javelin throwers in the finals, world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada was not included due to injury. But the biggest competitor of the Indian superstar was Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic.
Chopra produced his best throw in his second attempt at the final, with a throw of 88.44 meters. While his biggest rival Vadlejch threw 86.94m in his fourth attempt and Indian Olympic medalist, finished first. For winning the Diamond League Finals, Neeraj Chopra was awarded the trophy, $30,000 as prize money, and a wild card for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
- Neeraj Chopra was in excellent form in 2022:
Chopra won in Lausanne by defeating Jakub Vadlejch, who threw the javelin at 85.88m. But he also made a throw above 90 meters this season. The Indian javelin thrower had topped the Zurich Finals.
- Chopra vs Vadlejch
Chopra and Vadlejch have faced each other four times this season and the Indian athlete has emerged victorious on each occasion. Chopra finished second at the Paavo Nurmi Games on 14 June and the Stockholm Diamond League on 30 June, while Vadlejch finished sixth and fourth. Chopra won the silver at the World Championships in Eugene, while Vadlejch won the bronze.
