Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra this time could not defend his Diamond League champions title as he finished second with a performance of 83.80 m in Eugene on Saturday. It seems that he faced a tough time to tackle the windy conditions in the grand finale at Hayward Field as he fouled his two attempts. The 25-year-old javelin throwers best throw of the day came in his second attempt.Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finishes 2nd in Diamond League championHis series read foul, 83.80m, 81.37m, foul, 80.74 and 80.90m. This was his first below 85m throw of this season. He had qualified for the DL Finals at the third spot. He had won the 2022 DL Finals in Zurich with a throw of 88.44m.Indias javelin ace Neeraj Chopra finishes 2nd in the Diamond League final in Eugene with a throw of 83.80 metres(file pic) pic.twitter.com/lZjhOtWIpX— ANI (@ANI) September 16, 2023 Meanwhile, Czech Republics Jakub Vadlejch became the Diamond League champion for the third time with his best throw of 84.24 m which came in his sixth and final attempt. He was leading the six-man field from the beginning following his first-round effort of 84.01m.Notably, Vadlejch, who won bronze in the Budapest Worlds and silver in the Tokyo Olympics behind Chopra, had also clinched the DL title in 2017 and 2018.Interestingly, this was the same venue where Indias star player Neeraj Chopra had finished second in the 2022 World Championships, however, this time he wasnt lucky to grab the DL title.Earlier, Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, won two individual DL meetings in Doha on May 5 and Lausanne on June 30 before clinching a historic gold in the World Championships last month.About Neeraj ChopraThats not it, he had become only the 3rd javelin thrower in history to hold both the Olympic and World Championships titles after winning the world title in Budapest with a throw of 88.17 m.Just a few days after winning the World Championships title, he competed in the Zurich DL leg on August 31 when he finished second behind Vadlejch.Now, Neeraj Chopra will head to the Hangzhou Asian Games beginning later this month where he will defend the gold he had won in 2018 in Indonesia.
