Lausanne Diamond League 2023: Neeraj Chopra returns to action, Murali Sreeshankar looks to continue fine form

The reigning Olympics champion won in Doha in his season opener.

Neeraj Chopra will mark his return to action after a long injury-induced break at the Lausanne Diamond League 2023. The event will also see Murali Sreeshankar, who claimed a third-place finish in Paris, compete for the top honours in men's long jump. Chopra last competed in the Doha leg of the Diamond League before a muscle injury ruled him out for over a month. Compatriot and fellow long jumper Jeswin Aldrin was also scheduled to compete in Athletissima, but withdrew to focus on other events.

Traditionally Athletissima is an annual athletics meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland which was previously one of the prestigious IAAF Super Grand Prix events and now proudly forms a part of the esteemed Diamond League.

In the previous year, Neeraj Chopra clinched the top spot at the Lausanne Diamond League with an impressive throw of 89.08m. Notably, Neeraj's personal best stands at 89.94m achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League last year.

The event in Lausanne, Switzerland, will be the second out of five events in the 2023 Diamond League featuring men's javelin throw. The first chapter unfolded in Doha, Qatar on May 5th where Neeraj secured first place with an impressive throw of 88.67m. Neeraj Chopra currently leads the men's javelin throw points table at the Diamond League 2023, accumulating eight points from this victory.

However, Chopra has been sidelined due to injury since his victory in the Doha Diamond League. Unfortunately, he experienced a muscle strain during training, which resulted in his withdrawal from both the FBK Games in the Netherlands and the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland. Despite being initially scheduled to participate, Neeraj also did not compete in the Ostrava Golden Spike athletics meet held in the Czech Republic on June 27th.

In the Lausanne edition, Neeraj Chopra will face off against Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic, the silver medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Jakub Vadlejch's outstanding performance at the Paavo Nurmi Games, with a throw of 89.51m, currently leads the world rankings ahead of Chopra's 88.67m.

There will be a strong lineup of fellow contenders in the men's javelin throw event. Among the contenders, Germany's Julian Weber, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, boasts the third-best throw of the season at 88.37m. Additionally, world champion Anderson Peters from Grenada (SB: 85.88m, PB: 93.07m), Oliver Helander from Finland (SB: 87.32m, PB: 89.83m), 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad and Tobago (PB: 85.85m, SB: 90.16m), and Germany's Julian Weber (SB: 88.37m, PB: 89.54m) will also be in action.

The men's javelin throw will continue to be a prominent feature in the upcoming competition legs in Monaco on July 21st and Zurich on August 31st. Excitement will continue to build as the Diamond League grand finale is set to take place in Eugene, USA, on September 16th and 17th.

Adding to the excitement, Murali Sreeshankar will be the sole participant in Long Jump from India after Jeswin Aldrin, the current world leader in this discipline, withdrew from the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League 2023. Following his third-place finish in Paris where he achieved a jump of 8.09m, Sreeshankar will be determined to claim another podium finish in Lausanne.

This year marks a significant milestone for Indian athletics as for the first time, Indians have emerged as world leaders in the long jump. Jeswin Aldrin, with a remarkable jump of 8.42m and M. Sreeshankar, occupying the second position, have secured the top two spots in the World Athletics' list.

So, Murali Sreeshankar enters the competition on a high note. Recently, he achieved a personal best jump of 8.41m securing gold at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.

The long jump event will witness the participation of Greece's Olympic champion, Miltiadis Tentoglou. Additionally, Switzerland's Simon Ehammer, who triumphed over Tentoglou in mid-June with an impressive jump of 8.32m in Oslo and the talented young Italian athlete, Mattia Furlani, who has made waves with his jump of 8.24m will also be competing in the event.