Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra painfully missed out on the Diamond League crown by just one centimetre as he finished second for the second year in a row with a throw of 87.86m in the season finale on Saturday. Chopra, 26, who had won the Diamond League trophy in 2022 before finishing second last year, produced his best throw of the day on his third attempt but fell 1cm short of eventual winner Anderson Peters’ effort of 87.87m. Grenada’s Peters, a two-time world champion, produced his best throw of the day on his first attempt. Germany’s Julian Weber was third with 85.97m.
Chopra, who added a silver to her Olympic medal tally in Paris after a historic gold at the Tokyo Games, thus ended her season on a high.
The Indian javelin superstar, who has a personal best of 89.94m and a season best of 89.49m, had runs of 86.82m, 83.49m, 87.86m, 82.04m, 83.30m and 86.46m.
The top three led the seven-man field in the same order throughout the competition.
Peters will receive a Diamond League trophy and $30,000 for becoming this season's DL champion.
Chopra will pocket $12,000 for her second-place finish in the grand finale that marked the end of the prestigious Diamond League series after 14 stages, as well as the end of the international athletics season.
The Haryana lad remained consistent throughout the season, though he won just one international event this season – the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 18.
He had reached the Diamond League final after finishing fourth in the overall standings with 14 points from his two runner-up finishes at the DL one-day meets in Doha and Lausanne on May 10 and August 22.
Chopra has been struggling with his fitness this season and is expected to meet with a doctor to correct a groin injury that has plagued him all season and stood in the way of his reaching the 90-meter mark.
On Friday, Sable, who holds the national record in the 3000m steeplechase, had finished ninth out of ten men in his first DL final with a mediocre time of 8 minutes 17.09 seconds, ending a largely disappointing season. He had finished 11th at the Olympics.
It was the first time that a DL final featured two Indians.
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