'Felt a bit nervous': Neeraj Chopra on Lausanne Diamond League 2023 triumph

Coming back from a onemonth injury layoff Olympic champion Neeraj Chopras titlewinning performance at the Lausanne leg in challenging conditions on Saturday was below his own top10 efforts but he still stamped his authority in the prestigious Oneday meetThe 25yearold who had skipped three top events due to a muscle strain he sustained last month had won the seasonopening Diamond League in Doha on May 5 with his fourth careerbest throw of 8867mChopra who usually produces his best in early rounds had to wait till his fifth attempt to lead the field He was at the second spot till the end of the fourth roundI was feeling a bit nervous coming back from an injury It was a bit cold here tonight I am still far from my best but I feel it is getting better Chopra said after his winIt was a cloudy day with the temperature during the mens javelin throw event recording 17 degree celsius and humidity at 78 percentI am relieved it is coming together well for me A win is a win and I will take that happilyPrime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate the champion athlete on his latest achievementCongratulations to Neeraj_chopra1 for shining at the Lausanne Diamond League Thanks to his extraordinary performances he has finished at the top of the table His talent dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence is commendable pictwittercom8EKIpKqr5Umdash Narendra Modi narendramodi July 1 2023Congratulations to Neeraj_chopra1 for shining at the Lausanne Diamond League Thanks to his extraordinary performances he has finished at the top of the table His talent dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence is commendable PM Modi tweetedChopra began with a foul and then had 8352m and 8504m throws He had another foul in the fourth round before coming up with his titlewinning throw of 8766m next His sixth and last throw was 8415mAlso Read Neeraj Chopra finishes first in Lausanne clinches second Diamond League 2023 titleGermanys Julian Weber was second with a best throw of 8703m while Tokyo Olympics silver medallist and seasonleader Jakub Vadlejch SB 8951m of the Czech Republic was third with an 8613m effortReigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada who has been struggling for form was fifth with a best throw of 8223mChopra had won the Lausanne leg in August last year also for his maiden Diamond League titleA month later he became the first Indian Diamond League champion after winning the 2022 grand finale in ZurichThe Indian superstar who has a personal best of 8994m cemented his top spot in the Diamond League standings with 16 points followed by Vadlejch 13 points and Weber 12 pointsFollowing the Lausanne event mens javelin throw will also be a part of the roster in the Monaco and Zurich legs on July 21 and August 31 respectively before the Diamond League grand finale in Eugene USA on September 1617On May 29 Chopra had issued a statement informing about his injury He pulled out of the FBK Games on June 4 at Hengelo the Netherlands Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku Finland on June 13 and Ostrava Golden Spike meet in Czech Republic on June 27All the three meets were World Athletics Continental Tour gold eventsBut he did not miss any Diamond League competition as the subsequent legs in Rabat Rome Paris and Oslo did not have mens javelin events on the rosterIn the mens long jump Indias Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth with a belowpar jump of 788m which he achieved in the third roundThe 24yearold Sreeshankar who had clinched the third spot in the Paris leg on June 9 for his maiden Diamond League podium finish had produced a careerbest 841m during the National InterState Championships in Bhubaneswar earlier this monthLaQuan Nairn of Bahamas who beat Sreeshankar for the gold in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games took the top spot with a third round jump of 811mOlympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece was second with 807m effort while Yuki Hashioka of Japan was third with a jump of 798mWith PTI inputs