Finance
With a best throw of 83.80m, reigning Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra finishes second in the javelin throw event at the Diamond League 2023 Final.
Last year, Neeraj became the first Indian to win a Diamond League Trophy. He was unable to defend his title, however, at Hayward Field late Saturday night.
Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, who won the Diamond League in 2016 and 2017, won his third title with an amazing throw of 84.24 meters.
The 25-year-old holds the Indian national record of 89.94m and won a world championship silver medal with an 88.13m effort at the same stadium last year.
Neeraj’s initial effort resulted in a foul. With his second throw, he set a new personal best of 83.80m, moving him into second place behind Vadlejch, who began with an 84.01m effort.
Vadlejch maintained the advantage with an 81.37m throw on the third attempt, followed by another foul from Neeraj, despite the latter managing only one legal throw in the first four attempts.
Vadlejch recorded his best mark of the night in the final attempt to defeat Neeraj Chopra for the second time this year. Last month, Vadlejch defeated Neeraj Chopra in the Zurich Diamond League.
Neeraj won the Doha and Lausanne legs of the 2023 Diamond League series, but had to settle for second place in Zurich.
He earned 23 points in three meetings, qualifying him for the Diamond League Final. Jakub Vadlejch, who competed in all four qualifying events, took the lead with 29 points.
Neeraj competed in his second-to-last competition of the season before defending his title at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou later this month.
