Lausanne: Neeraj Chopra produced his best throw of the 2026 season but once again came up short against Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, finishing second at the Lausanne Diamond League on Saturday.
Chopra briefly took the lead in the rankings with a remarkable throw of 88.05 metres on his second attempt, but Pathirage regained the lead and went on to win the competition by throwing 88.14 metres on his third attempt.
Anderson Peters of Grenada came third, throwing a best distance of 86.69 metres.
Chopra started his campaign with a throw of 83.54 metres, which at first put him in second place behind Pathirage; the Indian then gave his best performance of the evening on his second attempt, throwing the javelin 88.05 metres and thus taking the lead.
But Pathirage at once raised the standard by throwing 88.14 metres on his third attempt, while Chopra was only able to throw 83.72 metres with his next throw before committing a fault on his fourth.
The athlete who had won two Olympic medals skipped his fifth try, and Pathirage also missed his shot, which left the Indian with only one more chance to catch up with his competitor.
However, Chopra was unable to achieve the necessary distance in his last throw, managing only a throw of just over 82 metres while Pathirage secured victory.
This was the third instance during the 2026 season that Pathirage had finished above Chopra; the Sri Lankan had previously defeated the Indian with a throw of 88.68 metres before winning the gold medal ahead of Chopra, who took silver at the Commonwealth Games.
Although he didn’t win the match, Chopra’s throw of 88.05 metres was a considerable advantage since it was his longest throw of the season.
The Lausanne meeting was likewise significant for Chopra’s attempt to qualify for the Diamond League Final at the end of the season; automatically qualified are only the top six athletes in the men’s javelin ranking, with extra spots being available via national or global wildcards.
(IANS)
