Neeraj Chopra comes agonisingly close to 90m mark with season best performance at Lausanne Diamond League - Watch

Neeraj Chopra comes agonisingly close to 90m mark with season best performance at Lausanne Diamond League (Screengrab)

Neeraj Chopra, Lausanne Diamond League: "I need to leave it to gods now." These were Neeraj Chopra's words in his last press conference when asked about his ambitious 90m target, a distance that India's most decorated athlete has now been chasing for quite some time. On Thursday, Neeraj once again came extremely close to the mark, only to miss it by 0.51m that too when his body is not hundred percent fit. This was Neeraj's final attempt at the Lausanne Diamond League, which helped him finish second in the competition. Grenada's Anderson Peters, who won a bronze at the Paris Games earlier this month, came first with an attempt of 90.61m.

Neeraj, who bagged a silver at the Paris Olympics, had a sluggish start to the event. He recorded a throw of 82.10m in his first attempt, and could only better his previous attempt by 1.11m in his second. His third and fourth attempt was recorded at 83.13m, and 82.34m respectively, and the feeling of this not being his day appeared to be imminent.

However, with two throws left in his kitty and Neeraj struggling in the fourth position until then, the 26-year-old from Panipat showed promise, sending waves of rejuvenation among fans in India, who were awake way past midnight to witness yet another magic. Neeraj threw the javelin 85.58m in his second last attempt and what followed next was absolute charismatic.

In his final attempt, Neeraj showcased a demenaour that many are familiar with. He ran hard and then dislodged the javelin with a loud roar, as the spear kept soaring in air before landing at the 89.49m mark, which was his season best. Neeraj had won a silver at Paris with a 85.45m attempt, following which we were informed that India's javelin star was nursing a groin injury. This time the javelin traveled 0.4m more, a performance which brushed aside fears that Neeraj won't finish in the Top 3. Here is the video of the throw:

Feeling so bad for Neeraj Chopra90m will come for sure .Neeraj was nowhere close to his best in 1st 5 throws gave his all in at 6th throw with SB of 89.49m !!Common Neeraj 90m will come for sure !!#NeerajChopra #DiamondLeague #Javelin pic.twitter.com/Omuoapm3gK
Ram kapoor (@Ram1947_) August 22, 2024

Prior to the competition in Lausanne, Neeraj had made just one appearance in the Diamond League, which was held in Doha earlier this year. His performance in the latest leg of the Diamond League now places him third with 14 points in the qualification standings.

The top six will enter the finals in Brussels on September 14. So far Peters (21 points) and Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (16 points) have secured their spot in the final.