‘Neeraj Is Back With A Bang’: Anurag Thakur Hails Javelin Thrower

Union Sports minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday congratulated Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra for his second straight win of the season in the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League.

“Neeraj is back with a bang. With a massive throw of 87.66m in his 5th attempt, @Neeraj_chopra1 dominates yet another Diamond League event finishing on top position in Men's Javelin Throw event at #LausanneDL . Phenomenal effort by our #TOPScheme athlete to make a blockbuster comeback after a muscle injury and make India proud again. Congratulations, Champion!” Anurag Thakur tweeted.

 

Due to a muscle strain he sustained while training last month, the 25-year-old Indian Javelin thrower had skipped three top events earlier. But he came back with a bang as he won the Diamond League title here with his fifth-round throw of 87.66m.

 

Late on Friday, Neeraj started with a foul and then had 83.52m and 85.04m throws. He had another foul in the fourth round before coming up with his winning throw of 87.66m next. His sixth and last throw was 84.15m.

Germany’s Julian Weber was second with a best throw of 87.03m, while Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic was third with an 86.13m effort.

Earlier, Neeraj had won the season-opening Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 5 with a throw of 88.67m.