Neeraj Chopra Set for High-Stakes Paris Diamond League Showdown

Neeraj Chopra returns to the Paris Diamond League on June 20, aiming for his first major title of the season after back-to-back runner-up finishes. The 27-year-old Indian javelin star, who last competed in Paris in 2017 as a junior world champion, will line up in a high-quality field after skipping the meet last year to prioritise the Olympic Games.

Chopra’s start to the 2025 season has been mixed. He won a low-key invitational meet in South Africa with a throw of 84.52m before finally breaching the 90m mark with a 90.23m effort in Doha. However, he had to settle for second place behind Germany’s Julian Weber, who threw 91.06m. A week later, under chilly conditions in Poland, Chopra again finished second to Weber with a best of 84.14m.

Organisers have confirmed Chopra and two-time world champion Anderson Peters among five entrants in Paris who have thrown over 90m — setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown. Peters, notably, finished behind Chopra in both Doha and Poland.

The Paris event will be Chopra’s second Diamond League appearance of the season, and it comes at the same venue where he clinched his second Olympic medal — a silver — last August.

Chopra is set for a busy stretch. Just four days after Paris, he will compete at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, followed by the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5 — a World Athletics Category A event he is also hosting.