A broken finger notwithstanding, Neeraj Chopra wrapped up a successful 2024 season with a second-place finish at the Diamond League final in Brussels on Saturday. It capped off a year that saw him win the Olympic silver medal, record three of his career's best throws and battle past two potential season-ending injuries.
With two titles and four second-place finishes, Neeraj often appeared unhappy with his performances and insisted that he had more in him but that would only be possible once he fully recovers from a recurring groin issue.
ESPN takes a look at the numbers that define Neeraj's 2024 season:
1
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian athlete to have an individual Olympic gold and silver medal to his name. Three other Indian athletes - Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker - have two individual medals each but Neeraj is the only one with a gold.
0.01m
Neeraj's best throw in the Diamond League final measured 87.86m... which was 0.01m lesser than Anderson Peters' best of 87.87m.
89.49m
Neeraj's best throw of 2024. He pulled this off at the Lausanne Diamond League in late August after some timely advice from 2016 Olympic medallist Julius Yego.
6 and 2
Neeraj competed in six events across 2024, winning two [Federation Cup, Paavo Nurmi Games] and finishing second in the other four events.
2
Neeraj battled two injuries through what was a physically and mentally challenging season. He continued to deal with a recurring adductor issue that forced him to prioritise his health over competition. He also revealed on Sunday that he had fractured the fourth metacarpal in his left hand right before the Diamond League final.
As the 2024 season ends, I look back on everything I've learned through the year - about improvement, setbacks, mentality and more.
On Monday, I injured myself in practice and x-rays showed that I had fractured the fourth metacarpal in my left hand. It was another painful... pic.twitter.com/H8nRkUkaNM
- Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) September 15, 2024
3
Neeraj recorded three of his career's best throws in 2024 - 89.49m at the Lausanne DL, 89.45m in the final of the Paris Olympics and 89.34m during the qualifying round at the Olympics. His best remains 89.94m, which came back in 2022.
89.45
Neeraj threw 89.45m to win the Olympic silver in Paris. This was the second-best throw of his career and also the biggest throw in Olympic history for a silver medal.
9/18
Neeraj has competed in 18 events since Tokyo and won 9 of them. The other nine times, he's finished second. In those events, he's only dipped below 85m only once.
1177 and counting
The last time Neeraj finished outside the top 2 was on June 26, 2021 at the Kuortane Games. That is exactly 1177 days ago.