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India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra came tantalizingly close to winning a gold medal at the Doha Diamond League on Friday, May 10. On his last attempt, the Indian star pulled out all stops to throw the javelin for 88.36 meters. However, this was 0.02 meters short of the best throw of the tournament.
Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch took the gold with his best throw of 88.38 meters. Grenada's Anderson Peters came third, with a best throw of 86.62 meters.
You can watch Neeraj Chopra's brilliant last effort here:
Neeraj is aiming to break the 90-meter barrier this season. With the Paris 2024 Olympics around three months away, achieving this breakthrough will be a major boost for the javelin thrower from Haryana.
However, the conditions in Doha didn't seem suitable for such feats. Gold medalist Vadlejch has a personal best of 90.88, which he fell well short of. Bronze winner Peters had the best personal best among all the competitors - 93.07 - but he too couldn't get close to the 90-meter mark.
Another participant with a personal best beyond the 90-meter mark was Kenya's Julius Yego, who has a throw of 92.72 to his credit. He finished eighth with a best effort of 78.37.
India's other participant in the competition, Kishore Jena ended ninth in the standings. His best throw in the competition was 76.31.
With this silver medal, Neeraj has, once again, shown his quality and reaffirmed his position as a leading contender for gold in Paris. However, Jakub Vadlejch has reminded him that the task won't be easy for India's superstar.
Neeraj Chopra's overall effort in Doha Diamond League 2024
The Doha Diamond League competition didn't start on the best note for Neeraj Chopra. He fouled his first throw, while Jakub Valdejch took the lead with his first throw, of 85.87 meters.
The 26-year-old Indian athlete then fought back with a throw of 84.93 meters in his second attempt. However, Valdejch also improved, as he threw for 86.93 meters in his second throw.
Neeraj's next two throws were above 86 meters, while the Czechian athlete got his eventual gold-winning throw on the third attempt.
After a throw of 82.28 meters on his fifth attempt, Neeraj loaded up for his best throw of the tournament. His sixth throw needed to be just three centimeters longer to win him a gold. However, the Tokyo Olympic champion will look ahead to bigger challenges ahead.
