Neeraj Chopra competed in his second Diamond League event in Monaco following his debut in Paris. (Source: Reuters File)
Neeraj Chopra faced disappointment at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday after finishing seventh out of eight in the Javelin Throw event. Competing in just his second Diamond League event – a huge achievement in itself for the youngster – he finished with a best throw of 78.92 metres in his six attempts. He registered distances of 75m-plus in five of his sixes legally delivered throws. Neeraj had competed in his first Diamond League event in Paris earlier in the month.
He started with a throw of 75.52 metres before faltering on the second one. He followed that up with 78.58 metres, 76.10 metres, 75.37 metres and finished with his longest distance of 78.92 metres.
The gold medal went to Thomas Rohler of Germany with a best timing of 89.17 metres. Second and third placed were Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Germany’s Johannes Vetter respectively with best distances of 85.43 metres and 85.14 metres.
Chief coach Bahadur Singh is reported to have said that the experience gained in the Diamond League will help Neeraj mentally prepare for the World Athletics Championships to be held at London from August 4. Neeraj is set to compete in London at the global meet even though the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is yet to make things official.
Neeraj had set the Under-20 record of 86.48m last year and this season too he has been largely consistent. He had achieved the world qualification mark of 83 metres during the Asian Grand Prix in China in April. The 19-year-old had won silver with a throw of 83.32m then. His best this season has been 85.63 metres, recorded during the Federation Cup held in Patiala from June 1-4.
The national champion had dominated javelin throw during the just concluded Asian Athletics Championships, held in Bhubaneswar. His gold winning throw of 85.23 metres is also a continental record.
