Neeraj Chopra qualifies for Diamond League finale after Paris Olympics silver

The season finale, set for September 13 and 14, will be a two-day event. The Indian javelin star, who won the 2022 Diamond League, participated in the Doha and Lausanne meets this year, earning 14 points from his second-place finishes. He chose to skip the Zurich leg of the series on Thursday.

New Delhi: Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra, who won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, has qualified for the Diamond League finale at Brussels after finishing fourth in the overall standings following the culmination of 14 series meetings.

The season finale will be a two-day event on September 13 and 14.

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The Indian ace, who won the 2022 edition of the Diamond League, featured in the two meets of the series in Doha and Lausanne and accumulated 14 points from his second-place finishes. He opted out of the Zurich leg of the meet on Thursday.

Neeraj is two points behind third-placed Jakub Vadlech of Czechia. Paris Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada and German star Julian Weber take the first two spots with 29 and 21 points, respectively.

The 26-year-old became the second Indian track and field athlete to win two Olympic medals. Earlier, he won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics to create history.

In the Paris Olympics, Neeraj had struggled with his groin injury which curtailed him from breaching the elusive 90m mark.

Neeraj finished second in the Lausanne Diamond League with a throw of 89.49m in his 6th and final attempt. Peters with his 90.61m final throw and Germany’s Julian Weber with a best throw of 88.37m secured first and third spots respectively.

In Paris, Chopra secured the silver medal with a throw of 89.45m, a clear improvement on the 87.58m that bagged him the gold medal in Tokyo, but that did not prove enough for the reigning World Champion and Diamond League final winner as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, his good friend in the sport, upstaged him by setting the Olympic record to win the gold medal with a monster heave of 92.97m.