Neeraj Chopra clinches title with 85.29-metre throw at Ostrava Golden Spike

Neeraj Chopra is on a winning streak, clinches the title at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic on Tuesday (June 24). The 27-year-old athlete began with a foul and then upped the ante with his 85.29-metre throw. This also made him the only one in the event to cross the 85-meter mark.

Chopra started and finished with fouls; he recorded 82.17 metres and 81.01 metres in his second and third throw, respectively. Poised at third place in the second round, the athlete flipped the rankings with his best in the third round, which moved him to the top of the chart.

South Africa’s Douw Smit with 84.12-metre throw and Grenada’s Anderson Peters with 83.63-metre throw, secured second and third places.

Chopra has been in stellar form this season, he crossed the 90-metre mark for the second time in his career at the Doha Diamond League. Earlier this year in May at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium, India’s two-time Olympic medalist achieved it with his 90.23-metre throw.

After finishing second at events, Chopra finally broke the jinx at the Paris Diamond League meet, where he bagged the title with a throw of 88.16 meters.

On winning at Paris’ Stade Sebastien Charlety, he said in an interview “I’m happy with the throw. It was my first throw and it was good start, and I was hoping for the throw to be really good today. My run-up was really fast today. I can’t control my speed. But I’m happy with the result and first position.”

He had skipped the Diamond League to prepare for the Paris Olympics, where he finished second as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem bagged gold. He participated in the event after eight years, leaving without regret.