Tokyo Olympics 2020 gold medalist Neeraj Chopra returned to the Diamond League with a dynamic throw, which saw him better his previous record. The star athlete recorded 89.94m in his first attempt to set a new national record and shatter his own previous national record at the ongoing event in Stockholm, Sweden on June 30.
What’s Diamond League?
The Diamond League is an annual series of best pick track and field athletic competitions comprising 14 of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meeting competitions.
The 24-year-old Chopra smashed the previous record of 89.30m, which was set by him only in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku a few weeks ago. His efforts saw him finish at second place in the competition.Anderson’s 90.31m helped him top the charts in the competition, while Weber settled for the third position after managing 80m in his final attempt.Germany’s Weber threw 89.08m in his fifth attempt.The Haryana athlete also surpassed the Stockholm meeting record that was of 89.78m in the name of Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway but as the competition progressed, Anderson Peters of Grenada stole the show with a massive 90.31m in the third round to grab the pole position from the Indian thrower Neeraj Chopra.
Neeraj Chopra’s consistency and ambition towards the leaderboards in the sport have shown that the Olympic gold was no flash in the pan. By virtue of finishing with silver in Stockholm, Sweden, Chopra earns himself seven points towards the Grand Final in Zurich. Chopra went past his previous national record throw of 89.3m at the Paavo Nurmi Games held this year only with his first throw and followed it up with attempts that scaled 84.37m, 87.46m, 84.77m, 86.67 and 86.84m respectively. Chopra had earlier also qualified for finals of the Diamond League twice, finishing 7th (83.30m) in 2017 and fourth (85.87m) a year later.
The next target for the golden boy Neeraj Chopra will be the World Championships in Eugene in the United States of America. The event will be held from July 15 to July 24, 2022.
After that Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8, 2022 are next on the list.
Anju Bobby George’s women’s long jump bronze at Paris World Championships in 2003 still remains India’s only medal at the athletics World Championships. On being asked about the World Championship to be held in July, the golden boy said that he feels no pressure even though knowing India has only one medal in World Championships. He said that he is just competing with a free mind, training well and giving 100 percent in the competitions and that’s it.
Chopra’s gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year has inspired a lot of young Indians to take up sports. He was also the most searched sports personality in India on Google last year.
