Newly crowned world champion Neeraj Chopra had little time to rest and was back in business at the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday (August 1). The reigning Olympic gold medallist added to his tally of medal with a best throw of 85.22 metres, on a day where he seemed far from his best. Much like his start at the World Athletics Championships, Neeraj did not have a good start in Zurich as he started with an underwhelming throw of 80.79m. It then started to be seem like a rare off day for Chopra as he followed that with a foul on his second attempt and third attempts.

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However, Chopra’s resilience came to the fore yet again as he bounced back to register a throw of 85.22 metres in his fourth attempt. Neeraj’s fifth attempt was another foul but he had done enough to earn himself a chance at the sixth attempt to try and better his best throw where he did better his throw and secured a throw of 88.71m but that wasn’t enough to help him get past Vadlejch’s mark of 88.86m. Julian Weber finished third with a best throw of 85.04m.

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Meanwhile, India’s Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth in the men’s long jump at the  Zurich Diamond League with his best attempt 7.99m. The 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist’s best attempt came in his first one and even though he remained in contention for a top three finish for a long time, eventually, he finished fifth. However, he was in third in Diamond League standings for the year, helping him secure a place for himself in the Diamond League final.