Neeraj Chopra To Skip Diamond League Brussels: Assured Final Berth, Indian Javelin Throw Hero Opts Out Of Last Meet

Guaranteed a spot in the high-profile Diamond League 2025 final, Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra will not compete in the last leg of the prestigious series in Brussels, Belgium on Friday (August 22, 2025). Out of the 14 DL meetings, four have men's javelin throw on their roster and Chopra only took part in two, but qualified for the DL Final to be held in Zurich, Switzerland on August 28. He had also skipped the Silesia leg on August 16.

The double Olympic medallist and reigning world champion went past the long-awaited 90m mark at the Doha DL in May with a throw of 90.23m, but finished second behind German Julian Weber. The 27-year-old then won the Paris DL with a throw of 88.16m in June.

The top six after the Brussels leg will make it to the DL Finals in Zurich.

Chopra's last competition was at the eponymous NC Classic on July 5 in Bengaluru, where he threw 86.18m to win the title at the event he himself hosted. In all, he has competed in six events so far this season, winning four times and finishing second twice.

The man from Khandra will defend his title at the World Championships, to be held in Tokyo from September 13-21.

Diamond League Significance, Prize Money

Diamond League is an elite one-day meeting series in world athletics. Athletes vie for points at the 14 series meetings to seek qualification for the two-day Diamond League Final, which will be held in Zurich on August 27 and 28.

The DL Final is a winner-takes-all competition and the champion in each of the 32 events is crowned Diamond League champion. Each champion is awarded the iconic Diamond Trophy and a wild card for the World Athletics Championships.

The men's javelin throw event is slated for August 28. The victor of each event will earn a trophy and USD 30,000 as prize money. The second-place finisher will garner USD 12,000, and third place-finisher USD 7,000.

But this year, winners of eight events out of the 32 will get increased prize money. These eight events are 100m men, 1500m men, 400m hurdles men, pole vault men, 100m women, 100m hurdles women, 3000m women and long jump women.

In these eight events, the winner will pocket USD 50,000, while the second and third-place finishers will get USD 20,000 and USD 10,000 respectively.

(With PTI inputs)