Neeraj Chopra finishes second in Diamond League Final

Neeraj Chopra finished second at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on a below-par night, which finished with a best throw of 85.01m. Neeraj was a fair way behind Julian Weber, who threw the two best throws of anyone in 2025, with a best of 91.51m.

Weber began the night with a 91.37m throw in his first attempt, and then went on to better that by 14cm with his second attempt. In fact, Weber ended with the four best throws of the night, as Neeraj just couldn't find his rhythm at any point during the night.

After starting off with as 84.35m throw, Neeraj threw 82.00m with his second throw, before three consecutive fouls. He then managed to produce the 85.01m throw with his final attempt, to beat Keshorn Walcott to second place by 6cm. It looked like Neeraj struggled all night to find his best technique in what was his first competitive event in more than 50 days. He had last competed on July 5, at the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru.

"Today was bit of a hard day," Neeraj said. "There is always harder days in sports and today it was a hard day for me. But I still managed over 85m throw in my last attempt."

"The timing was not so good today. Run-up was not so good. There is something I didn't find today, but I still have three weeks for the World Championships and I will try my best. I feel good and I just need to find some good timing for throw," he added.

It was an important final throw, in terms of keeping a proud streak going. This result now marks 26 consecutive tournaments for Neeraj where he has finished in the top two. Only Jan Zelezny, who has done it 33 times, has done it more times than Neeraj has.

He will be disappointed with how the evening went in Zurich, but the big target for Neeraj remains next month's World Championships in Tokyo. He will know that throws in the range of what he managed to do tonight will be nowhere near good enough in that field, which will also include the likes of Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem and Brazilian Luiz Mauricio Da Silva who has also thrown more than 90m this year.

You can follow the event in our live blog below: