Neeraj Chopra wins first Diamond League title in two years after finishing top in Paris

Neeraj Chopra clinched his first Diamond League title in two years after finishing top in Paris at the Charlety Stadium on Friday (Saturday, according to IST).

His best throw of the night came at 88.16m in his first attempt, which was enough to seal the win for the Olympic gold medallist.

Julian Weber of Germany, who had beaten Neeraj at the Doha Diamond League and the Janusz Kusociński Memorial in Poland, finished second, with his best throw coming at 87.88m.

Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio da Silva finished third with an attempt of 86.62m, which was a new personal best for him. He also broke his previous continental record of 86.34m.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who was touted to be one of Neeraj’s main competitors ahead of the event, finished fifth with a best effort of 80.29. Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott got fourth place with a second-round attempt of 81.66m.

AS IT HAPPENED: Men’s javelin HIGHLIGHTS at Paris DL 2025

Paris was Neeraj’s second Diamond League outing of the season after Doha, where he broke the 90m mark for the first time with a throw of 90.23m, bettering his previous best of 89.94m.

The two-time Olympic medallist Indian began the 2025 season with a title in an invitational meet at Potchefstroom, South Africa, with a throw of 84.52m.

The Indian Neeraj made his first Paris Diamond League appearance in eight years. His last outing was in 2017 as a junior world champion, where he finished fifth with a throw of 84.67m.

Neeraj’s next event will be the Ostrava Golden Spike 2025 athletics meet in the Czech Republic on June 24. After that, the reigning world champion will feature in the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic on July 5 in Bengaluru, a World Athletics category A event that he is hosting.

(inputs from PTI)