Neeraj Chopra breaks national record, claims maiden medal at Diamond League

Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra broke the national record once again, but it was enough to clinch him the gold medal at the prestigious Diamond League meet in Stockholm on Thursday. However, with a throw of 89.94m, the 24-year-old was able to win the silver medal – his first podium finish in a Diamond League meet. The gold went to reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Granada who was the only one to breach the 90m mark with a throw of 90.31m.

Neeraj broke his own national record with the very first attempt in the final. The previous record of 89.30m was achieved at the Paavo Nurmi Games earlier this month but on Thursday, he bettered it to 89.94m. However, that remained his best attempt in the summit clash.

The other efforts measured 84.37m, 87.46m, 84.77m, 86.67 and 86.84m. Neeraj was leading till the third round, but Peters pulled off the best throw of the tournament in the fourth round.

Before this tournament, Neeraj’s best finish in a Diamond League meet came in Zurich 2018 when he finished fourth with 85.73m. Till then, he has taken part in the tournament seven times, but this was the first ever time that he finished in the Top 3 after coming close in Doha 2018 as well.

The next target for Neeraj will be the World Championships in Eugene, USA, next month where he will be looking to finally complete his dream of throwing beyond 90m.

"Going forward I am looking to work on my technique, throw, and overall performance. I am in a happy place at the moment, and I just want to do well in the upcoming events," Neeraj said.