Due to a muscle strain he sustained while training last month, the 25-year-old Indian Javelin thrower had skipped three top events earlier. But he came back with a bang as he won the Diamond League title here with his fifth-round throw of 87.66m.
Neeraj beat his closest competitors – Germany’s Julian Weber (87.03m) and Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (86.13m) by a narrow margin late on Friday. This was Chopra’s second Lausanne Diamond League win in two years.
“I was feeling a bit nervous coming back from an injury. It was a bit cold here tonight. I am still far from my best, but I feel it is getting better. I am relieved it’s coming together well for me. A win is a win and I will take that happily,” Chopra was quoted as saying.
“I wanted to win so I’m super happy with the results but I also want to go back to training and fix some of the things that I noticed and that are going to make me stronger. Lausanne always treats me well. Last year I won and this year too, so I look forward to coming again next year and win again! The next competition, Budapest, will be a big one for me!” the Olympic champion further added.
On Friday, Neeraj started with a foul and then had 83.52m and 85.04m throws. He had another foul in the fourth round before coming up with his winning throw of 87.66m next. His sixth and last throw was 84.15m.
Earlier, Neeraj had won the season-opening Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 5 with a throw of 88.67m.
–IANS
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