Zurich Diamond League 2023 Live: Neeraj Chopra ended second on the night while M Sreeshankar was fifth. (Screengrab/Jio Cinema)Neeraj Chopra and Murali Sreeshankar Diamond League 2023 Highlights: Fresh from his World Championship gold medal, India’s Neeraj Chopra finished second in the men’s javelin throw event at the Zurich Diamond League meet on Thursday night behind Jakub Vadlejch.
After a slow start — where he threw 80.79m with his first attempt and then could not register a mark in his next two attempts — Chopra threw 85.82m in his 4th attempt. He produced his best throw of the night with his final attempt, a 85.71m heave that secured him second spot. The Indian’s best effort was just 15 centimetres short of Vadlejch’s best throw on the night.
Meanwhile, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth in his event with a best jump of 7.99m.
Chopra was competing in Zurich to bag points to ensure he qualifies for the Diamond League final in Eugene in mid-September. Chopra is the defending Diamond League champion and is third on the points table (23 points) after wins in Doha and Lausanne and the second spot at Zurich. He missed out on points as he didn’t participate in the Monaco Diamond League in July because he was focussing on recovery from an adductor muscle strain ahead of the World Championships.
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Javelin World Champion Neeraj Chopra (left) and Italy’s high jump World Champion Gianmarco Tamberi.
India's Neeraj Chopra reacts during the men's javelin throw final. (Reuters)
And with that, we have come to the end of our live coverage of the Zurich Diamond League.
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"I was so tired that I was thinking about not starting here, maybe because of my age. This is my first victory over Neeraj after two years so it is special for me and a small satisfaction after Budapest. But I think I managed to cope with all the feelings after Budapest very well. It is only three days after Budapest so it was very difficult but I managed to beat Chopra so I am more than happy. We had 20 degrees less than at the worlds and I do not like cold weather but the surface is hard here, what I like and that helped me. The whole season is built on the results from the World Championships so this is just another victory under my belt. But I like Zurich as this was my third victory here. Generally, the whole season was going very smooth and I managed to throw on stabile 9 victories out of 12 starts so it is solid. I will try to keep the shape towards Eugene and to finish this year in a nice way. I want to keep pushing Neeraj and try for another win," says Vadlejch.
"It is just a race, it is business as usual. Everybody wants to beat me and everybody wants the cake and the crown, but I am not giving it to them. Today, we did not have perfect conditions, it was pretty cold. But a win is a win. If I will run in Eugene: we will see, we still have to make a decision. Of course, a fast time is always wanted, but it has been a great season. And I guess winning three gold medals is better than getting the American record. I am not going to lie, I am pretty tired. It was only a short time after the World Championships. Today, I definitely had fun. Walking down the backstraight, we heard the crowd. I enjoyed the people cheering so much. So, I really want to come back. Such a full house is always great," says Lyles.
"I feel very good now, because everyone is a little tired after the World Championships - we gave our 100% there, but for this competition here my focus was to just stay healthy, and we have to focus now for Eugene and then the Asian Games. For me, the focus was just to stay healthy and to give my 100% in my next competitions. Sometimes we need to read our body. Today, I feel OK, I am 100% OK, but I did not push too much. Sometimes, our number one goal is to stay healthy. Today I gave it my best, but still with the focus to stay healthy. I usually do my winter training in Europe, because it is a lot easier to travel, that's why I spent some time in Loughborough some months before competing in Budapest this summer," says Chopra.
"I am satisfied. After all, after the World Championships and after the last days I would not have thought that I would throw 85m. Usually I do not like to throw within such short delays. But I feel good and the atmosphere is mega. I am satisfied with my throws. And on Sunday, at Istaf in Berlin, I want to throw further. Yes, it is really annoying that again I led today and then the others overtook me. We already joke about this kind of pattern with Jakub Vadlejch. Today I was lacking a bit of power and strength, I keep loosing that in the course of the season. I did a lot of meetings this season. But I am positive that I will find all my power and strength again next season. Istaf on Sunday will be like a "wellness" competition for me and then I am looking forward to going on holiday and having time for my family and my friends," says Julian Weber after finishing third in the javelin throw event.
"Today, we did not have perfect conditions, it was pretty cold. But a win is a win. I am not going to lie, I am pretty tired. It was only a short time after the World Championships. But today, I definitely had fun. Walking down the backstraight, we heard the crowd. I enjoyed the people cheering so much. So, I really want to come back. Such a full house is always great," says Erriyon Knighton after the 200m race.
"Despite the fact that I won today, this competition was not going as I wanted. I had many technical issues in my jumping due to the cold weather. The difference between the conditions we had in Budapest and today is just too big, it is just too cold. This is the last competition of this season for me, I am decided. Competing in Zurich, I knew how to speak a bit of German because half of my family lives here but I already forgot a lot," says the winner of the men's long jump event where Sreeshankar was also competing.
Jakub Vadlejch fouls his sixth attempt. Is currently in top place with 85.86 metres.
Neeraj Chopra just misses out on beating Vadlejch with 85.71 metres, his final throw is 15 centimetres short of Vadlejch's best throw.
Julian Webber of Germany nearly gets the better of Chopra but will have to settle for third place. Webber finishes with 84.92 metres to finish third.
Jakub Vadlejch has an x on his final throw
Jakub Vadlejch to start us off!
"I am ok. I have to run more races, my last one will be in Eugene. This full house is wonderful, I enjoyed the atmosphere a lot. I wanted to come out here and perform. To be honest, the season has not finished yet, so my focus is not yet on the Olympic Games, but on this 2023 season. I just want to finish this season well. In Budapest I was not disappointed about my time. This time right now is decent, I cannot complain," says Shericka Jackson
Chopra, Jakub and Weber look like the top 3 at the end of round 5. Only the top three get a chance to throw in the sixth and final round
Another no mark from Neeraj Chopra in Round 5 of the men's javelin. He is still in second place though courtesy his fourth round 85.22 metres
Sreeshankar's five jumps were 7.99, 7.96, foul, 7.96 and 7.93 metres.
Better than his performance in the qualifying round of the World Championships but he will be disappointed with the lack of a 8-metre plus jump.
Sreeshankar finishes fifth in the men's long jump. World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou tops with 8.20 metres in the last round.
Just a reminder. Athletes are awarded 8 points to 1 point depending on where they finish in a Diamond League. Chopra has 16 points from winning in Doha and Lausanne. If he stays in second place, Chopra will get seven points and have a total of 23
80.79m
x
x
85.22m
Neeraj Chopra comes up with his best throw of the evening with 85.22 metres. Moves into second place just behind Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch's 85.86 metres. Chopra has talked about having the belief to produce a big throw even in the final attempt. This in the fourth round from Chopra is good. Two rounds to go
Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch now produces 85.36 metres to go into the provisional lead. Chopra under some pressure now. He is in fifth place currently
And now Jakub Vadlejch has stormed into the lead with a throw of 85.86m!
This is getting exciting at the top!
Weber starts us off with the fourth round. He throws a 85.04m to take the lead!
It's a 7.93 from Sreeshankar in round 5 of the men's long jump. Still no 8-metre plus jump for the Indian
1 Julian Weber 84.75m
2 Jakub Vadlejch 83.46m
3 Oliver Helander 81.63m
4 Edis Matusevicius 81.62m
5 Neeraj Chopra 80.79 m
Murali Sreeshankar comes up with another 7.96 metres in the fourth round. 7.99, 7.96, foul and 7.96 are his four rounds so far
There are no live visual of the javelin throw, so difficult to say what has exactly happened to Chopra. His third attempt is also a no mark/foul. So Chopra has gone 80.79 metres, followed by X and X
With a no mark in the second throw and a 80.79m heave in his first, India's Neeraj Chopra is fifth in the standings at the moment.
Germany's Julian Weber tops Vadlejch's 83.46 with 84.75 metres. Webber in the provisional lead midway through Round 2 in the men's javelin.
Neeraj Chopra has a no mark in his second attempt in the men's javelin throw. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch moves into the provisional lead with 83.46 metres
India's Sreeshankar Murali fouls his third jump in the men's long jump. His two jumps from the previous rounds are 7.99 metres and 7.96m.
Gianmarco Tamberi, Italy's World Champion in the men's high jump, finishes fourth.
Born in Vilnius, the Lithuanian javelin thrower also studies at Lithuanian Sports University. Earlier, he used to play baseball but switched over to the javelin. He competed at the 2017 World Championships without registering a valid mark in the qualifying round. He also won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships. The 27-year-old has a personal best of 89.17m, which came in 2019.
Lithuania's Edis Matusevicius goes into the early lead with 81.62 metres.
Former World Champion Anderson Peters produces a throw of just 78.78 metres first up. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch and Germany's Julian Webber, third and fourth at the World Championships, have no throws in Round One.
Neeraj Chopra starts off with a modest 80.79 metres in the men's javelin throw.
80.79 metres is easily his shortest legal throw in a while. Maybe he is just warming up and taking it easy. Or like he said, with his back and shoulder sore after the World Championships, he is not going to push himself. Five more rounds to go.
India's Sreeshankar Murali follows up his first round 7.99 metres with 7.96 metres.in the men's long jump
World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou goes 8 metre plus with 8.04 metres in Rd 2. Still early days but Tentoglou leads as of now
Miltiadis Tentoglou begins with a leap of 7.95m, followed by Simon Ehammer, who logs 7.93m. Tajay Gayle's first jump is a no mark. India's Sreeshankar goes on top thanks to a 7.99m effort.
In the men's long jump, Greece's World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou starts with a modest 7.95 metres. He has jumped 8.52 metres to win gold in Budapest
Miltiadis Tentoglou
Simon Ehammer
Tajay Gayle
Carey McLeod
Sreeshankar Murali
Mattia Furlani
William Williams
Radek Juska
Jarrion Lawson
Christopher Mitrevkski
In other Diamond League action, USA's women 100 metre World Champion Sha'Carri Richardson wins in Zurich in 10.88 seconds. Wins by almost a metre ahead of Elaine Thompson-Herah
The opening event in Zurich sees an upset! World Championships silver medalist Kyron McMaster stuns world champion Karsten Warholm.
This is Warholm's first loss of 2023 and his first Diamond League defeat (not counting DNFs) in more than five years.
Before tonight, Warholm's last Diamond League defeat was in August 2018 -- coincidentally alsoin Zurich, also to McMaster.
Is there any worries for Chopra? Yes, an adductor muscle strain has troubled him since May. After winning gold at the World Championships, Chopra had said his mind was on not aggravating the injury. At the same time had to think about who could catch up with him. "World Championships was tough," Chopra had said on Wednesday
Dr Klaus Bartonietz, Neeraj Chopra’s German coach compares his attention to detail to that of a Formula One driver.
“Like a Formula One race driver who understands the power, engine speed and everything about the car, Neeraj understands the event and his body. He is not just doing what is necessary in training but also thinks about it, which is very good. Like how to make the exercises more efficient, understanding the event, understanding technique and his body. How to bring the best out of his body.”
An objective before the Olympic next year is to up Neeraj Chopra’s strength, his physio Ishaan Marwaha said.
“Building overall strength one level up. But you can’t push too much with strength. For example if he is doing a bench press of 90 kg, and in one season you try to bring it to 130, such a drastic change will affect flexibility. For example if he is doing 90, next season it should be 105 kg max. Neeraj is more of a flexible thrower than a power thrower. We don’t want flexibility to be affected. He wants to feel the flexibility in the shoulder. If he is flexible and can generate the power in the throw, then he definitely can throw farther.”
Self-control is one of Chopra’s strengths, Ishaan Marwaha, Neeraj Chopra's physio, said.
“This season, I don’t think he has had any sugar. When he was in India maybe he had two gulab jamuns. He hasn’t had a cold drink (aerated) in a year. I keep teasing him saying have one sip but he said no. He is off sugar. Maybe after the season when he goes to India, he will have chai with cheeni (sugar). Me and the coach have sugar but he has control over his mind and does not have it. He said ‘just a few months more’,” Marwaha said.
Neeraj Chopra said he is still sore from the men's javelin throw final at the World Championships. "Javelin was on the last day of the World Championships. I still feel some pain in my shoulders and back..." Chopra has said on the eve of the Zurich Diamond League.
Also participating in the Diamond League in Zurich is long jumper Sreeshankar Murali. Sreeshankar will aim to bounce back after failing to qualify for the final of the men's long jump at the World Championships in Budapest.
Neeraj Chopra lines up for the Zurich Diamond League in about half an hour. Chopra is the defending Diamond League Champion and is in third place on standings with 16 points. Above him are Julian Webber of Germany (19 points) and Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch.
25-year-old Neeraj Chopra is in Zurich to bag crucial points to ensure he qualifies for the Diamond League final in Eugene in mid-September.
Dont forget, Chopra is the defending Diamond League champion and is third on the points table (16 pts) after wins in Doha and Lausanne. He missed out on points as he didn't participate in the Monaco Diamond League in July because he was focussing on recovery from an adductor muscle strain ahead of the World Championships.
Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch and Germany's Julian Webber have taken part in three Diamond Leagues, including Monaco and are first and second with 21 and 19 points respectively. Grenada's Anderson Peters, who failed to defend his title in Budapest, trails Chopra by one point in fourth place.
Back in competition just four days after the World Championship final, Neeraj Chopra has had little time to recover. Two days of throwing in Budapest, the qualifying round on Friday and the final on Sunday, has left him a little sore.
"I will try my best, I will give my 100 percent. But you know javelin was on the last day at the World Championships. I still feel some pain in my shoulders and back, the main focus is to stay healthy and give 100 percent," Chopra said.
If India's newly-crowned javelin World Champion Neeraj Chopra needs help to get the spectators to cheer for him in Zurich during the Diamond League on Thursday night, help is at hand. Always the showman, Italy's high jump World Champion Gianmarco Tamberi has promised to do his bit for the Indian star.
"Tomorrow Gianmarco told me that 'I will cheer for you with public' and I will also try to cheer for him," Chopra said at the pre-competition press conference on Wednesday.
Tamberi immediately responded saying he would get the spectators in the Stadion Letzigrund stadium on their feet.
"I spoke with him before in the car and he [Chopra] told me ‘I really want this 90 metres’. I told him, man we are in Zurich, everything is possible because the crowd is just amazing. I will do the crowd... the last two metres, I will do it for you. Concentrate on 89 (metres)," Tamberi said jokingly.
The Neeraj Chopra versus Arshad Nadeem narrative dates back to the South Asian Games in 2016. A young Neeraj equalled the national record to win gold, Nadeem took the bronze. After the 2021 Olympics, when Nadeem was trolled for taking Chopra's javelin, the Indian star was upset and posted a video message asking people not to push their propaganda because the Pakistani had done nothing wrong as the rules allowed for it.
“Neeraj and I have a very healthy competition and we respect each other a lot. There is no Pakistan-India rivalry in a bad way. When we talk, we are just happy that both of us have come to the fore in a competition usually dominated by Europeans,” Nadeem was quoted as saying by PTI.
Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem made track and field history by finishing one-two in the javelin throw at the World Championship last week. A new India-Pakistan sporting rivalry was born that lacks the edge of a cricket game between the two neighbours.
Nadeem’s coach and Pakistan’s five-time national javelin throw champion Syed Hussain Bukhari spoke about the power-shift in the sport with the emergence of the sub-continent as the new hub of world-class javelin throwers. India’s Kishore Jena finished fifth, followed by DP Manu.
“India has three throwers but javelin throw is also picking up in Pakistan. Recently, Muhammad Yasir won a bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championships. We are also leaving no stone unturned in unearthing the next Nadeem. Both Chopra and Nadeem are role models. Every second athlete wants to be a javelin thrower. Both countries are now working hard to become a force in javelin and in Budapest we saw the result,” Bukhari says.