Reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, who emerged victorious at the Lausanne Diamond League, admitted that he was far from his peak performance and experienced nervousness during his comeback after a month-long hiatus.
The 25-year-old Indian javelin-thrower had been forced to skip three prominent events earlier due to a muscle strain sustained during training. However, he made a spectacular return, securing the Diamond League title in Lausanne with a remarkable fifth-round throw of 87.66m.
Neeraj narrowly surpassed his closest rivals, Julian Weber from Germany (87.03m) and Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic (86.13m), during the late stages of Friday's competition.
"I was feeling a bit nervous coming back from an injury. It was a bit cold here tonight. I am still far from my best, but I feel it is getting better. I am relieved it’s coming together well for me. A win is a win and I will take that happily," Chopra was quoted as saying.
"I wanted to win so I'm super happy with the results but I also want to go back to training and fix some of the things that I noticed and that are going to make me stronger.
"Lausanne always treats me well. Last year I won and this year too, so I look forward to coming again next year and win again. The next competition, Budapest, will be a big one for me," the Olympic champion further added.
During Friday's competition, Neeraj began with a foul, followed by throws of 83.52m and 85.04m. In the fourth round, he committed another foul before unleashing his winning throw of 87.66m. His sixth and final attempt reached a distance of 84.15m.
Prior to this event, Neeraj had already claimed victory at the season-opening Diamond League meet in Doha on May 5, achieving an impressive throw of 88.67m.
(With agency inputs)
