Neeraj Chopra set to compete at Lausanne Diamond League; Arshad Nadeem opts out

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Ace Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has confirmed his participation at the Lausanne Diamond League, starting on Thursday, August 22. However, reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem has opted out of the event.

This will be the first assignment for Neeraj Chopra after winning the silver medal at the recently concluded Paris Olympics 2024. Chopra, with his season-best throw of 89.45m, secured the second spot in the quadrennial competition.

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who created an Olympic Record with his monstrous throw of 92.97m to bag the nation's first-ever individual gold medal, has decided to not take part in the competition due to undisclosed reasons.

It's worth mentioning that Grenada's Anderson Peters, who settled for the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics with a throw of 88.54m, will also take part in the Diamond League in Lausanne.

Chopra has secured a gold and a silver at Diamond League so far. He bagged a gold medal at the Zurich Final Meet in 2022 with a throw of 88.44m. He clinched the silver medal at the Eugene Diamond League Final with a throw of 83.80m in 2023.

Roderick Genki Dean of Japan, Lassi Etelatalo of Finland, Artur Felfner of Ukraine, Andrian Mardare of Moldova, Edis Matusevicius of Lithuania, Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia, Julian Weber of Germany and Kenya's Julius Yego will also be participating in the competition.

Neeraj Chopra's stellar 2024 season

Neeraj Chopra initiated the 2024 season at the Doha Diamond League in May with an impressive throw of 88.36m to bag the second position. Later, he competed at the National Federation Cup Athletics Meet in Odisha to bag gold with an 82.27m throw.

Furthermore, he was expected to participate at the Ostrava Golden Spike Athletics Meet in Czechia. However, he pulled out of the event after suffering a niggle in his adductors, the same issue that bothered him at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Later in June 2024, he clinched another gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland with a throw of 85.97m. Subsequently, he headed to Turkiye for the training session at the Gloria Sports Arena for the Paris Olympics 2024.

After the conclusion of the Paris Olympics 2024, Chopra further confirmed that he would be considering surgery for his adductor injury, which has been bothering him for a long time.