Stockholm diamond league

Paris IANS Photos: Defending Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra reached the final of the men's javelin throw event with a mighty throw of 89.34m in the first attempt of the Group B qualification in the Paris Olympics here at the Stade de France on Tuesday.

Neeraj, who won India's individual gold medal in first track and field at the Olympics in Tokyo, started his title defence in style after breaching the automatic qualification mark of 84m in his opening throw by a huge margin.

It was also his best throw of the season and also the biggest among the players who achieved automatic qualification for the final across groups.