Neeraj Chopra to begin season with Doha Diamond League on 10 May

Defending Tokyo Olympics and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will get his 2024 season underway in the Doha leg of the Diamond League series on 10 May in a star-studded field.

Chopra, 26, who closed his previous season with a gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, is hoping to defend his Olympic gold in Paris later this year.

Chopra’s compatriot Kishore Jena, who finished fifth at the 2023 Budapest World Championships and won silver in Hangzhou, will be making his Diamond League debut.

Others in the field will be Chopra’s well-known rivals like Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze in 2023 World Championships and former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.

“This year, my personal goal is to defend my Olympic title, but it would also mean a lot to me to break the 90m barrier. The Doha Meeting, with good conditions and a great atmosphere, is a perfect opportunity to get my season off to the best start,” Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, said.

“I’m always overwhelmed by the warm support I get from Indians across the world and in Qatar that is particularly special. I feel privileged that so many people come out to support me and I hope I can repay their faith in me with a good performance.

Chopra was top at the 2023 Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.67m, ahead of Vadlejch and Peters.

Chopra’s excellence has raised the bar for Indian athletes. “Last year my dream was to win the World Championships, but to have three Indian athletes competing in the final - that shows we’re progressing as a nation, he said.

The Doha event is the third meeting of the 2024 Diamond League series which comprises 15 legs in total across four different continents, starting with Xiamen on 20 April and concluding with a single final across two days in Brussels (13-14 September).

The first two Diamond League meetings - in Xiamen and Shanghai - do not have men’s javelin throw as a discipline.