New Delhi, 20 June 2026: India’s veteran athlete and two-time Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra has made a brilliant comeback on track and field after being injured. Neeraj Chopra has secured fourth place with the season’s best throw of 85.69 meters in the javelin throw competition of the prestigious ‘Doha Diamond League’ held in Doha, Qatar. With this strong performance, Neeraj has also successfully achieved the qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games to be held from 23 July to 2 August.
Neeraj Chopra, who is recovering from injury, played his first Diamond League match of this entire season. To accurately test her fitness, Neeraj had postponed the decision of participating in this competition until the last moment. After the final training session, when he and his support team were completely satisfied about his fitness, only then with the consent of the organizers did he take the final decision to take the field in Doha.
Fans were expecting a medal from 29-year-old Neeraj Chopra, who won the historic gold in Tokyo Olympics and silver medal in Paris Olympics (2024), but despite finishing fourth, his comeback after injury is boosting confidence. In this competition, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage stood first with a throw of 88.96 meters. While Grenada’s former Olympic champion Anderson Peters was second with 86.38 meters and America’s Curtis Thompson was third with 85.99 meters. On the other hand, the other Indian athlete participating in this competition, Sachin Yadav could not qualify for the final round.
Keep an eye on the next two mega events
Past Diamond League champion Neeraj Chopra had a weak start and his first throw was declared ‘foul’. However, after that he picked up the pace and threw a distance of 82.77 meters in the second throw and 85.69 meters in the third throw, which proved to be his best throw of this season. Neeraj had made a throw of 83.45 meters in his fourth attempt, while his fifth throw was again fouled. Normally Neeraj’s first throw is the best, but it did not happen on Saturday. It is noteworthy that Neeraj’s personal best record is 90.23 meters.
This tournament was very important mentally for Neeraj Chopra to test his fitness after the injury. Now his sights are set on this season’s two slimmer mega events – the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow and the Asian Games to be held in Japan. Talking about his recovery program, Neeraj said that he was taking special training at the ‘Swiss Olympic Training Centre’ located in Megglingen, Switzerland. The place situated amidst the mountains is very quiet, which helps in focusing completely on technique and fitness.
(PHOTO-FILE)
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