Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 9: Neeraj Chopra won the Dimond Trophy, the prestigious title in the finale of the Diamond League series in men’s javelin on Thursday, making him the first Indian to hold the renowned title.
The 24-year-old Olympic champion from Tokyo finished first on the podium with a throw of 88.44 metres.
Neeraj won the race ahead of Julian Webber of Germany and Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic to write history. The Indian javelin champion got things started with a foul while Vadlejch took the lead with a throw of 84.15 metres. Neeraj, however, threw 88.44 metres on his second try, and it wasn’t surpassed until the very end of the competition.
Golds,Silvers done, he gifts a 24-carat Diamond ? this time to the nation ???
Ladies & Gentlemen, salute the great #NeerajChopra for winning #DiamondLeague finals at #ZurichDL with 88.44m throw.
FIRST INDIAN?? AGAIN??#indianathletics ?
X-*88.44*?-86.11-87.00-6T? pic.twitter.com/k96w2H3An3
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) September 8, 2022
Then, in his subsequent attempts, Neeraj threw 88.00 metres, 86.11 metres, 87.00 metres, and 83.60 metres. With a best attempt of 86.94m, Vadlejch placed second.
Another strong performance from the Indian, this time in the Diamond League Final, Neeraj’s three throws were superior to those of the rest of the competition.
Neeraj has won gold at the Olympic Games in 2021, silver at the World Athletics Championships in 2022, and gold at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games in 2018. He had, however, mentioned the value of Diamond League competition for him and stated that he would love to win the Diamond Trophy to complete the set.
Neeraj led a six-man race in Zurich on Thursday, including silver medallist Jakub Vadlecjh from the Olympics in Tokyo.