PM Narendra Modi congratulates Neeraj Chopra on winning Doha Diamond League 2023

The 25-year-old secured a podium finish in his first competition of the season.

Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra started the 2023 season on a great note by winning the Doha Diamond League 2023 with a best throw of 88.67m. The Diamond League Trophy winner in 2022, won the title with his season-opening throw of 88.67 and then followed it up with two 86-plus efforts - 86.04m and 86.52m. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, congratulated Neeraj Chopra for the first position in Doha Diamond League 2023.

Narendra Modi congratulated the 25-year-old and also wished him the best for future endeavours. "First event of the year and first position! with the World lead throw of 88.67m. Neeraj Chopra shines at the Doha Diamond League. Congratulations to him! Best wishes for the endeavours ahead," tweeted the PM.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports of India, Anurag Thakur tweeted, "Neeraj Chopra wins!. With a thunderous throw of 88.67m, he dominated the Doha Diamond League and brought glory home. A true champion who has made the nation proud again. Congratulations Neeraj on this stupendous win!"

Prior to the Javelin throw there was tail-wind and Triple Jumpers were taking full advantage of it by recording high scores. The tail-wind at times touched 3.0m/s (which is way higher than the permissible limit of +2.0m/s). The Javelin throwers on the other hand, faced a stiff challenge of headwind and found it difficult to register good results. World Champion Anderson Peters won the Doha Diamond League last year with a best throw of 93m+ but this time could only register 85.88m.

Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch, fell short of securing the top spot by 4cm (registering 88.63m). Jakub, however, registered two 88m+ throws and showed good consistency.

In the end, Neeraj Chopra was happy with the performance and will next be seen in action on June 27 at the Ostrava Golden Spike event in Czech Republic.