India’s double Olympic medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra qualified for the Diamond League final after securing a top-six finish in the Diamond League standings.
The Diamond League final will take place in Brussels on September 13 and 14.
The 26-year-old Indian athlete is currently ranked joint third on the DL Standings alongside Julian Webber with 15 points.
Neeraj confirmed his place in the final after winning seven points and a second place at the Lausanne Diamond League in August. The DL standing is led by Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who has 21 points. Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch is in the second spot with 16 points.
Neeraj, who followed his Tokyo Olympics gold medal with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, will join the likes of Peters, Webber, Vadlejch, Andrian Mardare, and Roderick Genki Dean at the Diamond League final.
Neeraj came up with a best throw of 89.49m at the Lausanne Diamond League – slightly better than his Paris Olympics best (89.45m) – in his final attempt finishing second to Peters, who won the event with a giant 90.61m throw.
At the Paris Olympics, Neeraj settled for the silver medal as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal with a 92.97m throw. Peters won the bronze medal.
The Indian athlete won the Diamond League final in 2022 and finished second-best in 2023.
After the Lausanne Diamond League, Neeraj has been out of action. After the Paris Olympics, he talked about his recurring adductor muscle issue and vowed to return to the track in the best possible shape as he chases the elusive 90m throw.
Neeraj is currently in Switzerland where he is nursing his injury.