Neeraj Chopra's top five throws in 2024 season

Neeraj Chopra had a successful season despite struggling with injuries.

India’s ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj Chopra put himself well and truly on track to being India’s greatest sportsperson, after maintaining his consistency throughout the 2024 season.

Despite struggling with concerns in his adductor throughout the year, Neeraj managed to put in big throws in every competition he participated in, winning a number of laurels. The highlight was his silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, following his gold at the Tokyo Games 2020. He thus became only the third Indian to win medals at different editions of the Olympics.

Apart from that, he finished second at the Diamond League Final for a second year running, agonizingly missing out on the top spot by 1cm. The 26-year-old clinched the top spot at the Paavo Nurmi Games for the first time as well as the Federation Cup.

With the season having come to a close, let us take the opportunity to have a look at Neeraj’s top five throws of the year.

5. Diamond League Final (Brussels): 87.86m

Neeraj’s resilience was on display at the final event of the season. Having delayed his groin surgery to compete in the Diamond League, he had an additional setback when he suffered a fracture in his left hand during practice.

Despite all the pain, he put up a stunning effort in Brussels. After starting off with a throw measuring 86.82m, he improved upon it in his third attempt, achieving a distance of 87.86m. Despite all of his throws being valid, he couldn’t make a further improvement after this attempt.

This meant that he finished second, with Anderson Peters of Grenada winning the event with a throw of 87.87m.

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra’s top five career best throws in men’s javelin

4. Doha Diamond League: 88.36m

Neeraj set the tempo for the rest of the year at the start of the season, by finishing second with a massive throw of 88.36m in Doha. He agonizingly missed out on the top spot, with Czech Jakub Vadlejch pipping him by just 2cm.

After starting off with a foul, he made improvements in the next two throws, with his third throw measuring 86.24m. He followed it up with an 86.18m throw, but endured a dip in the last one.

However, the Indian had reserved his best for the last, sending across his best throw of the night. Sadly though, it wasn’t enough to win him the competition.

3. Paris Olympics Qualification: 89.34m

With all the injury concerns, it was necessary that Neeraj breached a distance of more than 84m (the entry standard for the final) in his first attempt, so that he could remain fresh for the final scheduled two days later.

Having not participated in too many tournaments before the Paris Games, there were several doubts cast on his fitness. However, in his first attempt, he put all of those to rest with a stunning throw measuring 89.34m, just 60cm short of his personal best. The reigning World Champion not only topped his qualification group table, but also the overall charts by virtue of this throw.

2. Paris Olympics Final: 89.45m

Neeraj, Independent India’s first Olympic track and field medalist, was under severe pressure at the Paris Games final, with expectations having increased after his performance in the qualifiers. After starting off with a foul, this pressure increased hundred-fold when Arshad Nadeem shattered the Olympic record with a gigantic throw of 92.97m.

Neeraj put on a stunning display for the umpteenth time, with a throw of 89.45m catapulting him into silver medal position and keeping him there right till the end. With the Pakistani athlete’s massive throw, the Indian ended up over-exerting on his remaining four throws and fouled in all of them. Nevertheless, with this silver medal, the 26-year-old enhanced his legacy.

1. Lausanne Diamond League: 89.49m

After the Olympics, Neeraj decided to delay his surgery in order to compete in the remaining tournaments of the year. After the rigours of a tough season, he wasn’t in his best shape coming to Lausanne.

This was visible in his first four throws, as he could achieve a maximum distance of 83.21m, despite all of them being legal. Under threat of finishing below the top three and not being eligible for the sixth attempt, he mustered up a throw of 85.58m in his fifth attempt to move into third place, earning himself one more throw.

Nevertheless, it still seemed as if Neeraj might finish outside the top two of a competition for the first time since 2021. However, the double Olympic medalist showed his class in the final attempt, achieving his season best of 89.49m to finish second. Anderson Peters won the competition, with a meet record of 90.61m.

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