Neeraj Chopra saved his best for the last and threw 89.49m in his sixth and final attempt to finish second in the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday. This is Neeraj's season best throw, surpassing the 89.45m attempt at the Paris Olympics 2024. This is also his second-best throw ever. His best throw is 89.94m, achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022. His earlier throws at the Lausanne Diamond League On Friday were 82.10m, 83.21m, 83.13m, 82.34m, 85.58m. Grenada's Anderson Peters came up with a Meet Record and his Season Best of 90.61m to finish first. Germany's Julian Weber finished third with a best throw of 87.08m.“In the beginning it was really hard today. My body didn’t feel good. But I pushed myself mentally in the fifth and last attempt. In the last attempt, I really won because (Anderson) Peters threw 90 meters. And the body didn’t feel good but the fighting spirit was really nice today. I really liked that comeback with my second best throw,” Neeraj told broadcasters after his event. Neeraj Chopra was visibly struggling enroute his second-place finish at the Lausanne Diamond League.
A long-term issue in his adductors has been triggering some discomfort in his groin for the better part of a year now, forcing him to focus on injury prevention more than going all-out in his throws. Thursday night in the Swiss city was no different.After throwing in the 83m range for most part of the night, Neeraj faced the possibility of finishing outside the top three in an international tournament for the first time since 2018.However, two clutch throws - efforts of 85.58m and 89.49m respectively - in his last two attempts, not only helped him finish in the top bracket once more, but nearly got him close to the magical yet elusive 90m mark yet again.
“In the beginning it was really hard today. My body didn’t feel good. But I pushed myself mentally in the fifth and last attempt. In the last attempt, I really won because (Anderson) Peters threw 90 meters. And the body didn’t feel good but the fighting spirit was really nice today. I really liked that comeback with my second best throw,” Neeraj told broadcasters after his event.His 89.49m effort was his season’s best mark and his second-best throw ever. Incidentally, Neeraj’s top three throws have all come in second place finishes.“In the last throw I didn’t think much and I just gave my best. I think too much. In the beginning I was thinking I have to do this, do that. But Julius Yego told me, ‘Stay relaxed, you will throw far.’ So I tried to stay relaxed and hit it clean.While Neeraj revealed his injury flare ups have not been too worrisome since the Paris Olympics, he credited his physio - Ishan Marwaha - for keeping things in order.“Luckily after Paris, it was not too much. So I did some treatment with my physio. He did really well and I feel good. I did some very easy throwing sessions after Paris. And it was a strange competition today. In the beginning I did not feel that I could throw that far but in the end it was really good.”In an interaction with the media ahead of the Lausanne meet, Neeraj told mediapersons that he intended to finish his season at Brussels after the Diamond League final on September 13-14. He also has the option of competing in the Zurich Diamond League on September 5.