Published: Aug 27, 2022, 02:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 27, 2022, 02:11 PM (IST)
Lausanne: Neeraj Chopra on Friday finished first at the Lausanne Diamond League, becoming the first Indian to clinch the top spot in a Diamond League meet, after registering an 89.08m throw in his first attempt. The Olympic gold medallist couldn’t better his throw in the second attempt, registering a distance of 85.18m. Chopra, who skipped his third throw, had made a foul throw in his fourth attempt.
He threw 80.04m in his final attempt. In the Stockholm Diamond League earlier this year, Chopra had thrown a personal best of 89.94m and had finished second. With his Friday’s performance, he has now qualified for the Diamond League final on September 7-8 in Zurich, Switzerland, as well as the 2023 World Championships, which has a qualification mark of 85.20m.
HE’S DONE IT!🇮🇳
IIS athlete #NeerajChopra becomes the FIRST EVER Indian to win at the Diamond League, finishing top of the pile at the #LausanneDL with a MASSIVE throw of 89.08m in his very first attempt⚡️
He qualifies for the Diamond League final, in Zurich. #CraftingVictories pic.twitter.com/zbxbqrlWnD
— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) August 26, 2022
Chopra is at the fourth spot in the Diamond League points table with seven points. Notably, only the top six with the most points at the end of Diamond League qualify for the final.
The 24-year-old Chopra got ruled out of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games due to a “minor” groin he picked while playing in World Championship last month. He won a silver medal in the event.
Chopra took a rest for a month but the way he performed in the Diamond League made it look like the injury never happened.
The star athlete came into limelight after he won gold medal for India in Tokyo Olympics 2021. He was one the only Indian get this achievement in the event.
