 "Neeraj Chopra will be returning to Paris Diamond League after a gap of eight years. Image: Reuters")
Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will soon be back in action with the Paris Diamond League 2025, which will take place at the Stade Sebastien-Charlety. Neeraj will be returning to the event after a gap of eight years, having last competed at the Paris Diamond League 2025 in 2017.
The Paris Diamond League 2025 will take place on 20 June, Friday (21 June, Saturday in India). Besides Neeraj, six other athletes will take part in the men’s javelin event at the Paris Diamond League 2025.
“Javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra, a double Olympic medallist, and Anderson Peters, a double world champion, are among the five entrants who have already crossed the 90m line,” organisers said in a statement.
Paris Diamond League 2025: Men’s javelin throw start list
Neeraj Chopra (India)
Julian Weber (Germany)
Anderson Peters (Grenada)
Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago)
Julius Yego (Kenya)
Andrian Mardare (Moldova)
Luiz Mauricio da Silva (Brazil)
Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem is not a part of this event.
Neeraj Chopra vs Julian Weber in Paris
Neeraj will be facing the biggest challenges from Julian Weber and Anderson Peters. The Grenadian javelin thrower, Peters, has earlier beaten Neeraj to gold at the World Athletics Championships 2022 and Diamond League Final 2024. He has a personal best of 93.07 metres.
However, Peters is yet to touch the 90m mark this season, with his season best being 85.64m at the Doha Diamond League.
At the same tournament, Neeraj breached the 90m mark for the first time, registering a new national record with a throw of 90.23m. He, however, did not win the Doha leg as Germany’s Weber trumped him with his own first 90m throw.
Weber won the Doha Diamond League with a personal best throw of 91.06m.
After Doha, Weber once again defeated Neeraj at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial 2025 in Poland in May, as he won the competition with a throw of 86.12m. Neeraj finished second with an 84.14m throw in his final attempt, while Peters finished third with 83.24m.