Neeraj Chopra made a brilliant comeback at the international level by securing second place in the Doha Diamond League 2024 on Friday. India’s top javelin thrower finished second behind veteran Jacob Wadledge with his best effort of 88.36m at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. Neeraj, who won the gold medal in the 2023 season in Doha, failed to reach the 85m mark in his first two attempts, but finished second with a throw of 88.36m in the final round.
Neeraj missed first place
India’s other athlete Kishore Jena failed to impress after finishing ninth with a best effort of 76.31m. Wadlejch finished at 88.38, just two centimeters ahead of Neeraj, to claim the top spot in Qatar. The Czech Republican legend had missed the top spot by four centimeters to Neeraj in the 2023 Doha Diamond League. Grenadian javelin thrower Anderson Peters finished third with a best throw of 86.62 metres.
Doha Diamond League 2024 Standings (Men’s Javelin)
Jacob Wadlejch: 88.38 m
Neeraj Chopra: 88.36 meters
Anderson Peters: 86.62 meters
Oliver Helander: 83.99 m
Andrian Mardare: 81.33 meters
Edis Matusevicius: 80.05 m
Roderick Jenky Dean: 79.34 m
Julius Yego: 78.37 m
Kishore Jena – 77.31 meters
Curtis Thompson – 73.46 meters
Close competition among top 3 athletes
The 26-year-old Neeraj fouled in his first attempt but made an impressive comeback with throws of 84.93m and 86.24m in his subsequent attempts. Jacob dominated the event by taking the lead from his first attempt and achieved his personal best throw of 88.38 meters in his third attempt. The 2022 Asian Games gold medalist recorded a throw of 86.18m in his fourth attempt and 82.28m in his fifth. Jacob fouled in his last two attempts, giving Neeraj and Anderson a big chance to take the top spot, but both athletes failed to surpass their previous best in the sixth attempt. Anderson recorded a throw of 86.62m in his final attempt, falling just 0.02m short of Neeraj Wadlejch’s throw of 88.38m.