India’s Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra is all geared up to take part in the final of Diamond League in Zurich, Switzerland, which begins Wednesday, September 7. Chopra, who had returned after a month-long injury lay-off in Lausanne Diamond League meet in August, finished at the top spot with a bullet throw of 89.09m. Chopra admittedly wasn’t his 100 percent but was happy with his performance.
Chopra missed the Commonwealth Games 2022 due to the same injury sustained during the World Championships in Oregon in July. Chopra had finished second in Stockholm with a national record-breaking throw of 89.94m and a win in Lausanne meant he automatically qualified for the Zurich final.
After becoming the first Indian to clinch a Diamond League meet title, Chopra will be eying yet another historic feat. Chopra, who became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in Track and Field in Olympics, will be aiming to become the first from his country to win Diamond League Grand Final title, as he starts as the favourite. Before Chopra, the only other who came close to winning a title in the Diamon League Meet was discus thrower Vikas Gowda, who finished second in 2012 and 2014 and third in Shanghai and Eugene in 2015.
Chopra had qualified for the Diamond League Finals in 2017 and 2018 but finished 7th and 4th respectively. The 6-men event, which will be without world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, features India’s Chopra, Latvia’s Patricks Gailums, Portugal’s Leandro Ramos, USA Curtis Thompson, Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (Chopra’s biggest rival) and Julian Weber from Germany.
While Peters continues to recover from his injuries, Vadlejch will be the biggest hurdle between Chopra and the Diamond League Final title. Vadlejch had beaten the 24-year-old from Panipat in Lausanne as well and with the most points (27) qualified for the Diamond League Finals, while Chopra with 15 was fourth.
The event promises to be a cracker as the winner of the Diamond League Grand Final title will not only get a prize money of USD 30,000, but also a wild card entry for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
