Neeraj Chopra, the reigning Diamond League champion and silver medalist at the 2022 World Championships, will compete against his rivals in the first leg of the Diamond League series in Doha on Friday. Chopra, who holds the Indian national record with a personal best of 89.94m, will face tough competition from the likes of world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic.
Chopra finished fourth in his only previous participation in the Doha Diamond League in 2018 but went on to become the first Indian to win a Diamond League Meeting in Lausanne and the first Indian Diamond League champion after winning the 2022 grand finale in Zurich in September.
Chopra aims to cross the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin, this season. However, he faces tough competition in Doha, with Peters producing the fifth-longest throw in history at 93.07m and Vadlejch recording a personal best of 90.88m in his first-ever throw over 90m in Doha last year. The field also includes European champion Julian Weber of Germany, Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad & Tobago, and former world champion Julius Yego of Kenya.
In addition to Chopra, the Doha meet will feature 2022 Commonwealth Games triple jump champion Eldhose Paul, who will compete against Tokyo Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, reigning Diamond League winner Andy Diaz Hernandez of Cuba, and two-time Olympic gold winner Christian Taylor of the USA.
The Diamond League is track and field’s most prestigious series and comprises 13 meetings leading up to the two-day Diamond League Final in Eugene, USA, on September 16-17.
