Neeraj Chopra Diamond League 2022, Sets New National Record

The Indian javelin champion Neeraj Chopra opened with an excellent throw of 89.94m and set a new national record at Stockholm Diamond League 2022.

Neeraj Chopra, the javelin champion from the Tokyo Olympic Games, narrowly missed the 90-meter mark on Thursday but still finished in the top three at the renowned Diamond League Event.

The 24-year-old started out with a remarkable throw of 89.94 meters, and that performance ended up being his best. His other throws included lengths of 84,37, 87,46, 84,77, 86,67, and 86,84 meters.

He broke his previous national mark of 89.30m, which he had achieved on June 14 in Turku, Finland, during the Paavo Nurmi Games, where he came in second.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters, the competition’s champion and season leader, prevailed with a best throw of 90.31 meters.

With a fifth-round throw of 89.08 meters, German competitor Julian Weber came in third. Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo Jakub Vadlejch (88.59 meters) came in fourth.

Vitezslav Vesely, a third Czech athlete and bronze medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, finished 7th highest in the eight-man competition with 82.57m.

Neeraj had a chance to become the first Indian to triumph in the Diamond League competition after his opening toss. 

Nevertheless, he followed discus thrower Vikas Gowda as the second Indian to place in the top three of a Diamond League tournament.

At the World Championships, which will take place in Eugene, US, from July 15 to 24, Neeraj will be the team’s star athlete. 17 male competitors and 5 female athletes make up the chosen team.

The other javelin thrower in the team, in addition to Neeraj, is Rohit Yadav. The athletes that will represent India are Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase), Tajinderpal Singh Toor in the shot put, and Murali Sreeshankar and Muhammad Anees Yahiya in the long jump.