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Neeraj Chopra kicked off his preparations to defend his Olympic gold at the Doha Diamond League 2024 with a terrific show. The ace Indian track and field athlete finished in the second position, missing the top spot by a whisker.
Although Chopra commenced the competition with a foul, an 84.93m distance marked his first legal throw of the season. He improved it with a buoyant and uproarious throw, traveling for 86.25m, which put him in second place in the 10-men contest.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch was in the pole position right from the first round. He only bettered his next two throws with the 88.38m in his third attempt only consolidating the Czech athlete's place at the top even though he fouled in his last two attempts.
Neeraj Chopra's final throw was just 0.02m shy of Vadlejch's best throw of the day. The 88.36m will be marked as the Indian sporting pantheon's season-best as he moves to India to compete after three years.
Meanwhile, Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Kumar Jena could manage 75.72m and 76.31m throws, while his second attempt was red-flagged as a foul. The Odisha athlete was relegated after the third round, with only the top 8 making further progress.
Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Kumar Jena to compete in Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar
The Kalinga Stadium in the Odisha capital will mark the arrival of the Olympic champion in the Indian domestic circuit. Neeraj Chopra will compete in the Federation Cup 2024 after three years with his last appearance in the country being made in the same competition in March 2021.
It will be a first home event for Jena ever since he finished at the podium with Neeraj in a 1-2 for India at Hangzhou in the Asian Games. Neeraj and Kishore have already qualified for the Paris Olympics, while Karnataka's DP Manu is yet to challenge the qualification mark of 85.50m. Manu can take Neeraj's guidance during the Federation Cup in a bid to join him in Paris.
