Tokyo Olympics javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will begin his season at the Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 5.
Neeraj will be, as expected, one of the top draws in the star-studded field.
The 25-year-old athlete, the reigning Diamond League champion after winning the grand finale in September last, will join world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic in the first meet of the 14-leg one-day series of the season.
Neeraj, who has a personal best of 89.94m which he achieved while finishing second at last year’s Stockholm Diamond League meeting, is currently training in Antalya, Turkey. He will be there till May 31.
The India superstar had missed the 2022 Doha Diamond League Meeting due to an injury. Peters had sent the spear to 93.07m, the fifth-longest throw in history, to win the title. World Championships bronze medallist Vadlejch had finished second with a personal best throw of 90.88m.
In 2022, Neeraj had started his season on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland.
In Doha next month, alongside the decorated trio, the meet will also see European champion Julian Weber of Germany, the Olympic and world fourth-place finisher with a best of 89.54m, former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (PB: 90.16m) of Trinidad & Tobago, former world champion and 2016 Olympic silver medallist Julius Yego (PB: 92.72m) of Kenya.
According to an interview with athleticsweekly.com, the eight Indian track and field athletes who medalled at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham cited Neeraj’s breakthrough achievements as a motivating factor, helping them to believe what was possible.
His role in sport goes way beyond competition.
“It’s hugely important for me to inspire my nation and its people,” Neeraj told the website. “I have a constant desire for improvement and I will continue to work hard, as I always have done, in order to achieve that.
“While last year was a good year for me with a new personal best, world silver medal, and the win of the Diamond League, this year brings new opportunities. My goal for this summer is the World Championships, alongside the Asian Games and the defence of my Diamond League title.
“I’m always overwhelmed by the warm support I get from Indians across the world and in Qatar that is particularly special, so I’m looking forward to opening my 2023 Diamond League season in Doha alongside a group of incredible athletes, in front of a passionate crowd.”
One of the targets for Neeraj, the first Indian Olympic gold medallist in track and field, this year will be to cross the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin.
“I’m also getting closer to the 90m mark, so it would mean a lot for me to break that barrier,” he said.
After scripting history at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Neeraj won a silver in the 2022 World Championships in USA, where Peters won gold, but failed to defend the Commonwealth Games gold, he had won in 2018, at the Birmingham edition last year due to a groin injury.
He, however, recovered on time from the injury — which he had sustained during the World Championships — to win the Diamond League Finals in Switzerland.
The 2023 Diamond League comprises 14 meetings, starting with Doha at the Qatar Sports Club on May 5 and concluding with a single final across two days in Eugene, the US (September 16-17).
