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Indian javelin ace Neeraj Chopra produced a stunning return to the international circuit by striking gold at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa in Lisbon on Thursday. Neeraj Chopra threw 83.18m in his sixth and final throw to clinch the top prize in a field of five.
On a day when others failed to breach the 80m mark, Neeraj Chopra started with an 80.71m throw in his first attempt. The 23-year-old had no throws in his second and third attempts. However, he got back into the groove with a 78.50m throw in his fourth.
Still leading the pack, Neeraj Chopra once again had a no throw on his fifth attempt before breaching the 80m mark for the second time on the day to walk away with the gold. Leandro Ramos of Portugal (72.46m) came second while his compatriot Francisco Fernandes took bronze with a throw of 57.25m.
One of the favorites to win a javelin medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra was deprived of international competition for more than a year because of the travel restrictions imposed on Indian travelers.
Neeraj Chopra's last international event was in January 2020
Meeting Cidade de Lisboa marked Neeraj Chopra’s first international event in nearly 18 months. The last time Chopra was seen competing at an overseas event was in January 2020 at the South African domestic meet in Potchefstroom.
In that meeting, Neeraj Chopra threw the javelin to 87.86m to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, bettering the standard set at 85m. The Haryana-born athlete also competed at the Indian Grand Prix III and Federation Cup this year, recording a personal-best 88.07m and 87.80m throws respectively.
With Estonian Magnus Kirt pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics due to a leg injury, medal-winning chances look brighter for Neeraj Chopra but he has a lot to work on in the buildup to the big event.
Neeraj Chopra will now fly out to Sweden for Karlstad Grand Prix (June 22), which will be followed by Kuortane Games in Finland (June 26) and the Lucerne meet in Switzerland (June 29).
