Such has been the man’s dominance in his discipline in the last two years that what would usually be considered a creditable finish seems like a disappointment.
Failing to defend his title, Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished second in the Diamond League Final with a below-par best throw of 83.80m in Eugene on Saturday. (More Athletics News)
Like most of his competitors, Neeraj, 25, struggled with the challenging weather conditions in the grand finale at the Hayward Field and fouled two of his attempts.
His best throw of the day came in the second attempt. His series read foul, 83.80m, 81.37m, foul, 80.74 and 80.90m.
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It was the first time this season that Neeraj finished with a best throw below the 85m mark at an event. He had qualified for the DL Finals in the third spot.
The golden boy from Haryana had won the 2022 DL Finals in Zurich with a throw of 88.44m.
Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch became the DL champion for the third time with a best throw of 84.24m, which came in his sixth and final attempt.
Vadlejch was leading the six-man field from the beginning after his first round effort of 84.01m.
The 32-year-old had won the bronze medal in Budapest World Championships and a silver in Tokyo Olympics behind Neeraj, and had clinched the DL title in 2017 and 2018 too.
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Hayward Field is the same venue where Neeraj had finished second in the 2022 World Championships.
He has a personal best of 89.94m, and 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.
Neeraj had become only the third javelin thrower ever to hold both the Olympic and World Championships crowns after winning the worlds title in Budapest with a throw of 88.17m.
Soon after winning the Worlds title, the 25-year-old had competed in the Zurich DL leg on August 31, where he finished second behind Vadlejch.
The season is not over yet for Neeraj, though. He will now head to the Hangzhou Asian Games beginning later this month, where he will defend the gold he had won in 2018 in Jakarta.
