Neeraj Chopra made it two Diamond League victories in two events in 2023, finishing in top spot in Lausanne on Friday. The Olympic champion recorded a best throw of 87.66m in his fifth attempt, after what was a slow start by his standards. It was a welcome return to action for Chopra, who hadn't competed in an event since the Doha Diamond League on May 5, having pulled out of the FBK Games and Paavo Nurmi Games earlier this month due to an injury.
Germany's Julian Weber set the early pace with an 86.20m throw in his first attempt, when Chopra didn't even register a mark. The Indian's second attempt was also - by his standards - a relatively modest 83.52m. That meant Chopra had to do something that he is not too used to doing - playing catchup at the back-end of the event.
His rhythm didn't desert him when he needed it the most, recording an 85.04m throw with his third attempt to move into second place, and then a big 87.66m throw in his fifth attempt to move into the lead, which he then kept.
Both Weber and Jakub Vadlejch came close to Chopra's mark with their respective final attempts - Weber recorded 87.03m and Vadlejch 86.13m, but they weren't to deny Chopra his second Diamond League win of the year.
"I was feeling a bit nervous coming back from an injury. It was a bit cold here tonight," Chopra said. "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."
With two javelin events done in the Diamond League this year, Chopra leads with 16 points, ahead of Vadlejch with 13 and Weber with 12. The remaining three javelin events at the Diamond League this year will happen at Monaco (July 21), Zurich (August 31), and Eugene (September 17).
Meanwhile, it was not the best of nights for Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, who finished fifth with a best jump of 7.88m. He remains third in the Diamond League long jump standings, but his 10 points so far is well behind leader Mitliadis Tentoglou who has amassed 21 points so far.
You can relive all the action from Lausanne as it unfolded, below.
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