Already assured of Diamond League Final slot, Neeraj Chopra to skip last meeting in Brussels on Friday
Already through to the high-profile Diamond League Final, star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will skip the last leg of the prestigious series in Brussels, Belgium on Friday.
Out of the 14 DL meetings, four have men’s javelin throw on their roster.
Chopra competed in only two, but qualified for the DL Final to be held in Zurich, Switzerland on August 28. He had also skipped the Silesia leg on August 16.
The 27-year-old reigning world champion went past the coveted 90m mark at the Doha DL in May with a throw of 90.23m but finished second behind German Julian Weber. He then won the Paris DL with a throw of 88.16m in June.
The top six after the Brussels leg will make it to the DL Finals in Zurich.
Chopra’s last competitive outing was at the NC Classic on July 5 in Bengaluru where he threw 86.18m to win the title at the event he hosted. In all, he has competed in six events so far this season, winning four times and finishing second twice.
Chopra will defend the title at the World Championships to be held in Tokyo from September 13-21.
Diamond League is an elite one-day meeting series in global athletics.
Athletes compete for points at the 14-series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Diamond League Final, which will be held in Zurich on August 27 and 28.
The DL Final is a winner-takes-all competition in each of the 32 events. Each champion is awarded the iconic Diamond Trophy, USD 30,000 as prize money, and a wild card for the World Athletics Championships. The second-place finisher will pocket USD 12,000, and the third-place USD 7,000.
The men’s javelin event will be held on August 28.
But this year, winners of eight events- 100m men, 1500m men, 400m hurdles men, pole vault men, 100m women, 100m hurdles women, 3000m women and long jump women – out of the 32 will get an increased prize money. In the said events, the winner will pocket USD 50,000, while the second and third-place finishers will get USD 20,000 and USD 10,000 respectively.
Published on Aug 20, 2025