After 6 DL silver medals since 2023, Neeraj Chopra wins javelin gold
The 27-year-old Chopra won the title late on Friday night with his first round throw of 88.16m in a star-studded field, which featured five from the coveted 90m club.
PARIS: Olympic medal-winning Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra clinched his first Diamond League title in two years, upstaging German rival Julian Weber without having to hit the 90m mark in a strong field here.
The 27-year-old Chopra won the title late on Friday night with his first round throw of 88.16m in a star-studded field, which featured five from the coveted 90m club.
His second throw measured 85.10m and he then fouled his next three attempts before recording 82.89m in his sixth and final effort.
Weber was second with his opening throw of 87.88m, while Luiz Mauricio Da Silva of Brazil was third with his third round attempt of 86.62m.
"I am happy with my throw. My run-up was really fast today. I can't control my speed, but I'm happy with the result and with the first position," the Haryana-lad, who has a gold and silver in back-to-back Olympics, told the broadcaster.
Chopra had won his last DL title in Lausanne in June 2023 with a throw of 87.66m. After that, he finished second in six DL meetings.
This was his first win in the Paris leg of the prestigious series. He last competed in the Paris DL in 2017 as a junior world champion and finished fifth with a throw of 84.67m.
"I will compete in Ostrava (Golden Spike athletic meet) after four days on the 24th of June. So I need some recovery," he said of his upcoming schedule which also includes the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5 -- a World Athletics category A event which he is hosting.
Chopra had breached the 90m mark in the Doha leg of the Diamond League on May 16 with a throw of 90.23m for a second place finish. Weber had won the title in Doha with his last round throw of 91.06m.
"I'm hoping for some 90 metre throws because I broke that barrier in Doha. So now I believe I can do it some more...But let's see, it depends on weather and good conditions, how the body feels, but maybe I will throw far in this season," he said.
The 31-year-old Weber had also beaten Chopra at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet on May 23 in Poland where both performed below their best under chilly and overcast conditions.
Weber had produced 86.12m while Chopra could only come up 84.14m to finish second.
The Indian began the 2025 season with a title in an invitational meet at Potchefstroom, South Africa, which was a minor (category F) event with a throw of 84.52m.
In Paris, the three others, apart from Chopra and Weber, who had previously hit the 90m mark were Kenya's 2015 world champion Julius Yego, Trinidad and Tobago's 2012 Olympics gold-winner Keshorn Walcott and Grenada's Anderson Peters.
While Walcott (81.66m) finished fourth, Peters (80.29m) and Yego (80.26m) took the fifth and sixth spot respectively on Friday.
Need to work on my core muscles: Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj Chopra said he will need to work harder on his core muscles and make his body stronger to consistently log 90-plus distances in international competitions.
Body's core muscles play an extremely vital role in generating power in a sport like javelin throw.
Chopra, the two-time Olympic medallist, clinched his first Diamond League title in two years on Friday with a throw of 88.16m but fell short of his personal best throw of 90.23m registered at the Doha Diamond League earlier this year.
"Yes, I need some more control when I throw, like on the attack. We are working on it in training, but still, there are so many things we have to change and I need some, maybe, strong core and some more strong body for throwing," said Neeraj, after winning the title in a star-studded field that had five throwers from the coveted 90m club.
In a sport like javelin, core muscles help in generating and transferring power from the lower body to the upper body, which ultimately impacts the throwing distance and accuracy.
Chopra said it is a matter of time before he finds consistency and is able to match the expectations of his fans.
"It's just a matter of time and rhythm, getting more and more competitions."
The ace athlete said he was happy with his run-up, but when it comes to timing of the throw, he needs to put in some more effort.
"Like timing, because I feel really good (in the) run up, but the timing was not so good when I throw (the javelin). I go quickly left and it was not good. I need to throw to the front like with the chest and go up with the javelin. We are working on it," Chopra said.
Chopra, who is currently being coached by the legendary javelin thrower Jan Zelezny, said he was looking forward to the Ostrava Golden Spike athletic meet on June 24, and the four days in between will give him time to recover.
"I will compete in Ostrava after four days on June 24. So, yes, I need some recovery. I'm very excited with this (Neeraj Chopra Classic) also. It's really something that I feel I did for my country and people are sporting.
"Indian people are supporting and they are following javelin (sport) after the Tokyo Olympics, and I'm very excited. In future, I'm thinking of making this event (Neeraj Chopra Classic) big," he added.
1 – time Neeraj has beaten Julian Weber in three attempts in 2025
FIRST GOLD AT PARIS DL
1st Throw – 88.16m – Gold
2nd Throw – 85.10m
3rd Throw – Foul
4th Throw – Foul
5th Throw – Foul
6th Throw – 82.89m
DL RESULTS SINCE 2023
2023 Zurich Diamond League 2nd 85.71m
2023 Eugene Diamond League Final 2nd 83.80m
2024 Doha Diamond League 2nd 88.36m
2024 Lausanne Diamond League 2nd 89.49m
2024Brussels Diamond League Final 2nd 87.86m
2025 Doha Diamond League 2nd 90.23m
2025 Paris Diamond League 1st 88.16m
