Diamond League 2023: Neeraj Chopra will emerge as champion for the first time, eyes on 90 meter record
Diamond League: Competing for the first time as Diamond League champion, Neeraj Chopra will be eyeing to touch the 90m mark in today’s encounter. The first leg of the Diamond League series is being held in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
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oi-Sohit Kumar
Diamond League Champions:
Competing for the first time as Diamond League champion, it’s a big day for star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as he takes on the field for the first leg of the prestigious event on Friday, May 5. During this, he will once again face the legends of his game.
The first leg of the Diamond League series is being held in Doha, the capital of Qatar. In such a situation, the eyes of the whole country will once again be on the performance of Neeraj Chopra, while Neeraj’s target will be on touching the distance of 90 meters.
Neeraj Chopra’s personal best performance is 89.94m, which is his national record. In his only appearance at the Doha Diamond League in 2018, he finished fourth with a throw of 87.43m. Neeraj could not participate last year due to lack of fitness. However, it is a different matter that even after not being in this league, he continued to shine, as he became the first Indian Diamond League champion after winning the 2022 Grand Finale in Zurich last September.
Talking about his fitness, Chopra said last month that he is feeling better “physically and technically” but winning the top prize in the season-opener will not be easy given the incredible competition witnessed here last year.
As he prepares for
#DohaDiamondLeague,
@Neeraj_chopra1
reflects on the progress of
#IndianAthletics,
@AFIIndia— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia)
May 4, 2023
At the competition, Peters made the fifth longest throw in javelin history by throwing 93.07 m, just outside German Thomas Röhler’s mark of 93.90 m, which was a meeting record in 2017. Wadledge, who finished second behind Chopra at the Tokyo Olympics to win a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships, also set a personal record of 90.88m in his first throw over 90m here last year.
Also meeting the decorated trio will be European champion Julian Weber of Germany, who had a personal best of 89.54m. Also in contention will be 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (PB 90.16m) of Trinidad and Tobago and former world champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Julius Yego of Kenya (PB 89.54m).
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Chopra said in the pre-event press conference that ‘this is my first competition of the season. It is even better when you have good competitors. Wadlejch has already thrown 88.38m in Potchefstroom (South Africa, on 18 April), so I think there will be great competition. Also, Doha is famous for 90m throw. So we will see, hopefully great results for all.
