Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra has qualified for the Diamond League Final. The six-man event will be held in Brussels on September 4-5. Interestingly, Neeraj did not compete in three out of the five meetings, including the Zurich Diamond League, which was held on Thursday, August 27. The Zurich event was won by Commonwealth Games 2026 champion Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who delivered a throw of 92.07m. Rumesh fell marginally short of his best throw of 92.62m, which he achieved at the Rome Diamond League in June this year.
Neeraj, meanwhile, competed only in the Lausanne Diamond League and Doha Diamon League, recording a throw of 88.05m and 85.69m, respectively, thus finishing with 12 points. He finished second in Lausanne and fourth in Doha. This was enough for Neeraj to qualify for the final at sixth place.
How Are Points Calculated?
The points are awarded to the top eight finishers in the men’s javelin throw event. The player who finishes first gets eight points, followed by seven, six, five, four, three, two and one point for positions from second to eighth. The top six athletes with the most accumulated points qualify for the Diamond League final. In case of ties, the athlete with the season-best performance qualifies for the final.
Who Qualified For Diamond League Final?
Rumesh Tharanga qualified as the table topper with 39 points, followed by Anderson Peters of Grenada with 35 points. Rumesh had a fantastic year and was by an far the best athlete in Javelin this year. Along with winning CWG gold, he won four out of the five Diamond Leagues. He recorded two throws in excess of 90m and seven beyond 88m, including five above 89m.
Meanwhile, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago with 23 points, Curtis Thompson of USA with 20 points, and Julius Yego of Kenya with 12 points, finished ahead of Neeraj Chopra.
For Neeraj, who has carefully managed his schedule after recovering from a back injury he suffered during the World Championships last year, the Diamond League Final will be a good test before the Asian Games, which begin next month.