Neeraj Chopra finishes second in Stockholm Diamond League despite registering National Record
July 1, 2022
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India on Thursday finished second in the men’s javelin throw event during the Stockholm Diamond League at BAUHAUS-galan with an attempt of 89.94m. Grenadian Anderson Peters took the top spot with a 90.31m throw.
Peters shattered the Meeting Record (MR), earlier marked against Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen’s name (89.78m; July 25, 2006).
Meanwhile, Chopra bettered his own Personal Best (PB) and National Record (NR) of 89.30m, which he registered at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku. This leaves Chopra merely 6cm short of the elite 90m club.
“I feel very good. In the first round, I threw 89.94, close to 90. I thought I could throw over 90 today. But it is okay, as I have more competitions this year. Big congratulations to Peters who threw over 90,” Neeraj told the organisers after the event.
“It is good for me. The training goes well. I am giving my best. Slow improvement is good. Every day is different. I will give my best there (Eugene World Championships) as well. Let’s see what happens,” the 24-year-old added.
Germany’s Julian Weber finished third with an effort of 89.08m off his fifth throw.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch finished fourth with a best effort of 88.59m. Oliver Helander of Finland was fifth with 85.46m.
It was an outing to forget for Olympic bronze medal winner Vitezslav Vesely of Czech Republic who finished second last (seventh) with a best attempt of 82.57m in his very first throw.
