Neeraj Chopra becomes the first Indian to win the Diamond League finals

India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra created a new record by winning the finale of Diamond League 2022 in Zurich on Thursday. He won it and his best attempt was 88.44.

He became the first Indian to bag the Diamond League Trophy in the men’s javelin series. The 24-year-old javelin star threw 88.44m to fish on the top spot.

He left Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Germany’s Julian Webber behind to script history. Initially, he didn’t have a good start and Vadlejch took the lead in the first attempt with an 84.15m throw. In the second attempt, Neeraj Chopra threw the javelin at a distance of 88.44m and none of the contestants could beat this. In the third, fourth, fifth and final attempt, he threw at a distance of 88.00m, 86.11m, 87.00m, and 83.60m respectively.

It’s a proud moments for Indians as Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian to win the prestigious Diamond trophy in the finale. Earlier, he finished in the 7th position in 2017 and in the 4th position in 2018.

“I always thought the Diamond League (Finals) was a big competition. The trophy should be there in India, and finally that happened last night,” he said at a virtual press conference.

Further he added, “I want more athletes from India to compete in top tournaments, lot of team from other countries were participating in the Diamond League Finals. It will help them in terms of experience too.” 

In 2023, he will be competing to defend his Asian Games gold medal and World Championships in Budapest where he’ll have the opportunity to win a gold.

Neeraj also stated the problem with high expectations from Indians after he won his World Championships silver and not gold.

“This is the problem in India. That everyone wants a gold medal. It is very important to know that in this sport, it is not possible to get a gold medal. If they get to understand this, they will know how much pressure is on the athlete. Fans need to support the ones who lose as well. Medals are not the only sign of a good athlete but even taking part in a world event is too. If fans in India will understand this, they will help the athlete do well under extreme pressure,“- he said

Previously, Neeraj Chopra won the Lausanne Diamond League in August with an 89.08m throw.

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