Neeraj Chopra won the Diamond League Trophy – He won the javelin throw of 88.44 meters Awarded to the winners of the Diamond League finals every year – he became the first Indian to win the trophy.
Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem did not have enough points. Absent world champion Anderson Peters (due to injury) and Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem (due to insufficient points), reigning Olympic champion Chopra suffered little.
It started with a foul, then in the second attempt, Chopra continued to move forward with a big throw. With the men’s and women’s javelin events taking place simultaneously, Chopra had to wait a bit to secure her trophy.
Rounding out the Diem places was Germany’s Julian Weber with a best throw of 83.73m. In second place was Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic with a throw of 86.94m.
Chopra was confident with the second throw – a trademark look-back, shout and gesture of raising his index finger before landing the javelin. He followed with throws of 88.00m, 86.11m, 87.00m and 83.60m.
Chopra began her 2022 season almost a year after the Olympics. He won silver at the World Championships, one of Peters’ best ever world performances. He could not represent the Commonwealth Games.
Chopra qualified for the Diamond League finals after finishing first in the Diamond League leg in Lausanne (first Indian in a DL event) and second Chopra in Stockholm leg (breaking the national record).