Doha Diamond League: Can Neeraj Chopra recover his javelin crown here?

Celebrated Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra begins his Diamond League campaign in Doha on 16 May, Friday, against a familiar but formidable field of rivals, eyeing a perfect start to the season in which he will be defending his world championship crown later this year.

At a venue where he will have sizeable crowd support thanks to expatriate Indians, Chopra will face two-time world champion and 2024 Olympics bronze-winner Anderson Peters of Grenada, Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia, who won here in 2024, the German duo of Julian Weber and Max Dehning, Kenya’s Julius Yego and Roderick Genki Dean of Japan.

Almost all of them have been have been Chopra’s rivals at major competitions for a while now. A notable absentee is 2024 Paris Olympics gold-winner of Pakistan.

Chopra’s compatriot Kishore Jena, who won a javelin silver medal at the Asian Games but is struggling of late, will also be one of the 11 competitors.

Jena (personal best: 87.54m) competed here in 2024 as well, finishing ninth with a throw of 76.31m.

Vadlejch won here with a best throw of 88.38m while Chopra was 2cm behind with 88.36m. Peters was third with 86.62m.

Chopra, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and then a silver at the 2024 Paris Games, first competed in the Doha DL in 2018 when he finished fourth with a best throw of 87.43m.

After winning gold in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he took the title here in 2023 (88.67m) and finished second in 2024 (88.36m). He will be looking to regain the Doha DL title.

“I’m always overwhelmed by the support I get from the Indian people in Qatar — there aren’t enough words to thank them,” said the 27-year-old who is now coached by world record-holder and multiple-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny of Czechia.

Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, is looking to , something that Zelezny did for fun in his prime, with the best being a jaw-dropping 98.48m.

“I know the fans expect big things from me when I compete here — and with good conditions and a great atmosphere that’s definitely possible — but I pride myself on my consistency, which I believe is one of my greatest strengths. For me, that’s more important than just chasing a number.”

Indian presence elsewhere

National record-holders Gulveer Singh and Parul Chaudhary are also competing in the men’s 5000m and women’s 3000m steeplechase events respectively, making this the country maximum representation ever in a DL event.

Singh, who has been on a national record-breaking spree in 5000m and 10,000m, is making his Diamond League debut, while Chaudhary had earlier taken part in the Eugene DL in May 2024, finishing 16th.

Both Singh (PB: 12:59.77sec) and Chaudhary (PB: 9:15.31sec) will face tough competition from among the best in the world and are unlikely to finish in the top-three.

Interestingly, five of the Doha participants — Peters, Yego, Dean, Chopra and Jena — were also scheduled to face each other in the inaugural NC Classic in Bengaluru on 24 May, but that event has has been postponed in the wake of the military confrontation between India and Pakistan.

After the Doha DL, Chopra will be competing in the 71st ORLEN Janusz Kusociński Memorial event in Chorzow, Poland, on 23 May, where he will face Peters and Weber, besides other top competitors.

Chopra is also set to compete at the Golden Spike 2025 athletics meet in Ostrava, Czechia on 24 June, hoping to be third time lucky after pulling out of the last two editions due to injuries.

The Doha leg is the third of the DL series and the first in which men’s javelin is on the roster.

The Wanda Diamond League is an elite one-day meeting series in global athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field.

Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day DL Finale, which will be held in Zurich on 27 and 28 August this year.