Chopra registered a season-best throw of 88.36m with his final attempt but fell just 2 centimeters short of the crown to Jakub Vadlejch, whose best came in at 88.38m.
In the most enthralling of encounters, it was ultimately not meant to be for Neeraj Chopra, who fell just short of the top spot, as the Indian sealed a second-place finish in the Doha Diamond League 2024.
Chopra registered a season-best throw of 88.36m with his final attempt but fell just 2 centimeters short of the crown to Jakub Vadlejch, whose best came in at 88.38m.
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Doha marked Chopra’s return to action, the first event of this season, ahead of the defense of his Olympic crown in Paris this summer.
Neeraj Chopra is the only Indian to have to have become the Diamond League champion, which was done in 2022. However, in the last edition in 2023, Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic took the title.
And it would be Vadlejch who would once again get the better of Chopra, by the tiniest of margins to once again pip over the Indian.
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Meanwhile, Chopra’s Indian counterpart, Kishore Jena, could not get his footing whatsoever, lingering in ninth place from the get-go, and was eventually eliminated at the halfway mark, three rounds in.
Chopra started off on the wrong foot, registering a no-throw, while Vadlejch took the early lead, registering his best throw of 88.38m with his third attempt.
It was a gradual climb for Chopra, whose throws got relatively better, before the Indian found himself in a rut, with a disappointing throw of 82.28 in the penultimate round.
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It was finally down to Vadlejch, Chopra and Grenadian Anderson Peters, who competed in the final.
Peters registered a strong throw of 86.62m to seal his third-placed finish, while Vadlejch fell short at the end with a no-throw, leaving the door open for Chopra.
With a powerful heave, Chopra cleared the 85m mark with utter ease, and fell a painstaking 2 centimeters short of Vadlejch’ best, thereby succumbing for second.
