Neeraj Chopra finished second at the Diamond League Finals in Zurich on Thursday
Germany's Julian Weber clinched the title with two throws of over 90m
Neeaj best effort was 85.01m which came in his final attempt
Neeraj Chopra finished second in the men's javelin throw competition at the 2025 Diamond League Finals in Zurich on Thursday as Germany's Julian Weber clinched the title with two throws of over 90m. India's two-time Olympic medallist's best effort was 85.01m which helped him overtake 2012 London Olympics gold winner Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago who ended third with 84.95m.
Weber launched a 91.37m missile in his very first effort to take the first spot right from the beginning. He then bettered it with a season world leading throw of 91.57m in his second attempt. It was also his personal best as he made the competition totally one-sided. Two more of his throws were better than the best of Neeraj's effort on the night.
Neeraj started with an 84.35m throw which made him the third best of the night behind Weber and Walcott. India's only track and field Olympic champion remained at the third position till his final throw when he just crossed the 85m-mark to leave behind Walcott and take the second spot.
The second-placed finish extends Neeraj's streak of finishing in the top two to 26 straight tournaments, second best of all time for a javelin thrower.
This was Neeraj's third straight runner-up finish in the Diamond League final. He won the tournament in 2022 but has since then ended up at the second spot in the next three years.
Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada came fourth with 82.06m.
Neeraj Chopra reaction after Diamond League final
After the competition, Neeraj said he needs to throw a little bit further.
"This was not too bad. But we are getting very close to the world championships, so I still need to throw a little bit further. There were a few things that went well, but still, there were the things which did not go that well," Chopra said after the event.
"In the last attempt, I still managed to throw 85. But I am very happy for Julian today - he managed to throw really far, and to show 91m was really good. We will see in three weeks.
"I still need to train a little bit. In this sport, we do not know. It depends on the day." Chopra said everything "will be different" in Tokyo during the World Championships (September 13-21).
Chopra will now head to Tokyo for next month's World Championships as the defending champion.
