Digital Desk: Neeraj Chopra, India's golden boy, announced his comeback in grand style as the javelin thrower clinched a historic Diamond League Title on Friday. The 24-year-old Chopra, who was forced to withdraw from the recently finished Commonwealth Games (CWG 2022) due to a groin injury sustained when earning silver at the World Championships last month, hurled the spear to 89.08m in his first try to seal the victory in style.
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After a month of rest and treatment, Chopra returned to his previous level of performance, making it seem as though the injury never occurred at all. His third-best effort in his career was the 89.08-meter throw. His second throw measured 85.18m before passing on his third attempt.
His fourth throw was a foul, and he passed his fifth try before coming up with 80.04m in the sixth and final round. The sixth throw goes to only the top three after the fifth round.
The child from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana became the country's first Diamond League champion.
Before Chopra, the only Indian to finish in the top three at a Diamond League Meeting was discus thrower Vikas Gowda. Gowda had placed second twice, once each in New York (2012) and Doha (2014), and a third time each in Shanghai and Eugene (2015).
Jakub Vadlejch, who won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, came in second with a best throw of 85.88 meters, and USA's Curtis Thompson took third with an effort of 83.72 meters.
Chopra also qualified for the September 7 and 8 Diamond League Finals in Zurich. He also became the first Indian to do so. By surpassing the qualifying mark of 85.20 meters, he also earned a spot in the Budapest, Hungary, 2023 World Championships.
Chopra finished second in the Stockholm leg of the renowned tournament, trailing world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada with a national record throw of 89.94m, only 6 cm short of the gold standard in the world of javelin throw.
After being attacked on a boat in his own nation earlier this month, Peters is now recovering from his wounds.
Despite the weaker eight-man field, Chopra led from the first throw to the finish of the competition, unlike at the World Championships in Eugene, USA, where he didn't take the lead until the third round.
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