Neeraj Chopra, Murali Sreeshankar.
Indian fans will pin their hopes on World Champion and Olympic gold medallist Chopra and long jumper Sreeshankar to claim a piece of silverware at the Zurich Diamond League.
After a stupendous performance at the World Athletics Championships, Neeraj Chopra will be looking to continue his sublime run in the Zurich Diamond League. Chopra, who was recently crowned world champion in Budapest, will compete in the Diamond League’s men’s javelin throw event on Thursday. Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Chopra came up with an astounding 88.17-metre effort to become the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.
Apart from Chopra, Indian fans will pin their hopes on long jumper Murali Sreeshankar to claim a piece of silverware at the Zurich Diamond League. The upcoming event in Zurich will mark the 11th leg of the Diamond League 2023 season.
Chopra, who holds the national javelin throw record of 89.94m, won the Diamond League last year. The 25-year-old had clinched the title at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, where he will be aiming to defend his championship once again this Thursday.
A resounding performance at the World Athletics Championships will certainly offer Chopra a much-needed boost ahead of the Zurich Diamond League 2023. Chopra will now head into the competition having remained unbeaten in the season so far. Before becoming the world champion, Chopra won two Diamond League meetings in Doha and Lausanne.
At the World Athletics Championships, Neeraj Chopra claimed his maiden global championship title. With this, he became only the third athlete to win both Olympic medal and World Championships titles.
“This was great. After the Olympic gold, I really wanted to win the world championships. I just wanted to throw it further. This is brilliant for the national team but it was my dream to win gold at the world championships. This has been a great championship for India and I am proud to bring another title to my country. I don’t think I am the best thrower here. I wanted to throw more tonight. I wanted to throw more than 90m tonight but it needs all parts of the puzzle to be there. I couldn’t put it all together this evening. Maybe next time,” Chopra was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
Meanwhile, Murali Sreeshankar will appear in his third long jump competition of the current Diamond League season. At the Paris leg of the Diamond League, Sreeshankar secured a third-placed finish. His performance deteriorated at the Lausanne Diamond League where the 24-year-old earned the fifth spot. The Commonwealth Games silver medalist did not have a fruitful outing at the World Athletics Championships 2023. Sreeshankar had to suffer an early exit in Budapest.
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