Neeraj Chopra’s winning streak comes to an end in a week that proved challenging after becoming the new world champion, he secured the second position in the men’s javelin throw competition at the Zurich Diamond League 2023 in Switzerland on Friday.
Neeraj Chopra’s best effort in the meet was 85.71 meters, which came with his final throw. Jacob Vadlejch from the Czech Republic held the first position with a throw of 85.86 meters. Neeraj Chopra’s personal best throw is 89.94 meters, which is a national record.
With this result, Neeraj Chopra’s winning streak in the 2023 season has come to an end. After progressing in the Zurich competition, the Indian javelin thrower had won the Diamond League stages in Doha and Lausanne before clinching the historic gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
In the upcoming Diamond League final in Eugene on September 16 and 17, India will be represented by two athletes as both the javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and long jump athlete Shri Shankar Murali will remain in the top six in the points table at the end of the Zurich stage.
With a best effort of 88.17 meters, the javelin thrower made history by winning India’s first gold at the World Athletics Championships.
Neeraj Chopra scripted history as the first Indian athlete to claim gold in the famous World Athletics Championships. Just after winning gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Chopra returned to action in less than three days.
Newly crowned world champion Neeraj Chopra wasn’t at his best, but he still finished second in the men’s javelin throw competition with a final-round throw of 85.71 meters in Zurich on Thursday morning.
With his second-place finish in the Zurich Diamond League, Neeraj Chopra’s unbeaten streak in 2023 came to an end.
Despite a best effort of 85.71 meters, Neeraj fell short by just 15 cm from the top spot, as last week’s world silver medalist Jacob Vadlejch claimed top honors.
“I’m feeling really good now because after the World Championships, everyone was a bit tired – we gave our 100% there, but for this competition, my focus was solely on staying healthy, and now we need to concentrate on Eugene (Diamond League final) and then the Asian Games,” Neeraj Chopra said.
The top Indian athlete emphasized, “My focus was on staying healthy and giving my 100% in my upcoming competitions.” “Sometimes we need to listen to our bodies. Today, I feel fine, I’m 100% fit, but I didn’t push too hard. Sometimes, our number one goal is to stay healthy. Today, I gave my best while keeping a focus on staying healthy.”