Zurich: India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra admitted that his timing was off in the Diamond League Finals, where he finished second, but expressed confidence about peaking in time for next month’s World Championships in Tokyo, where he is the defending champion.
The two-time Olympic medallist ended runner-up in the Diamond League Finale for the third consecutive year as Germany’s Julian Weber clinched his maiden title with two 90m-plus throws, including a world-leading effort of 91.57m.
Chopra managed 85.01m in his final attempt to move into second place, pushing 2012 London Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (84.95m) to third. “The timing and run-up were not so good today. There was something missing, but I still have three weeks before the World Championships, and I will try my best,” Chopra said.
The Tokyo Olympic champion, who crossed the 90m mark for the first time earlier this year in Doha, admitted he still needs to fine-tune his technique. “This was not too bad, but I still need to throw farther. Some things went well, but others didn’t. I’m happy for Julian; he managed 91m and threw really far. For me, I need more training—it always depends on the day,” he added.
Chopra, who has been managing a groin injury, stressed he feels fit and is only looking to perfect his timing ahead of Tokyo. “I feel good. I just need to find better timing,” he said.
Weber dominated the competition with throws of 91.37m and 91.57m in his opening two attempts, leaving rivals trailing. Chopra had only three valid throws out of six, with his best effort falling more than six metres short of Weber’s.
The 27-year-old Indian, known for his consistent 88m-plus throws, had hoped to regain the Diamond League trophy he won in 2022 but had to settle for second for the third year in a row (2023, 2024, 2025).
With this victory, Weber extended his head-to-head record against Chopra this season to 3-1, having earlier beaten him in Doha and Chorzow. Chopra, however, still leads the overall tally 15-5 since 2016. Remarkably, he has not finished outside the top two in any competition since June 2021.
