Neeraj Chopra marked his return to action with a fourth-place finish at the Doha Diamond League 2026 in Qatar on 19 June. The two-time Olympic medallist registered a best throw of 85.69m and also qualified for the Commonwealth Games 2026.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who is among the rising stars in javelin throw, won the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.68m.
Neeraj Chopra jittery comeback after eight months
The 2021 Olympics gold medallist was last seen in action at the 2025 World Athletics Championships and on expected lines, he was rusty. At this same venue last year, the star athlete had breached the 90m mark for the first time in his career.
Chopra started off with a foul. The first round ended with Curtis Thompson leading the charts with an 85.99m throw, followed by Anderson Peters (82.82m) and Pathirage (82.62m).
Chopra gained momentum on his second attempt when he registered a throw of 82.77m, which took him to the third spot. With this throw, he also achieved the qualification mark for the Commonwealth Games 2026, set at 82.61m by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Pathirage trumped the Indian star in the second round with a throw of 84.63m as Chopra finished fourth. The 28-year-old’s best effort came in his third attempt. He registered 85.69m throw, which made him the first Indian to get past the 85m mark this season.
After round three, Chopra was placed in third spot with Peters (86.38m) and Thompson (85.99m) above him. Chopra’s fourth effort was 83.45m but Pathirage came up with a monumental 88.68m effort to stamp his authority in the competition and attain the lead.
But Chopra’s comeback ended when he registered another foul in his fifth attempt, which saw him end outside the top three.
‘Not a good decision to compete at Tokyo’
Ahead of the Doha Diamond League, Chopra said that it was not wise of him to compete at the World Championships with an injury. Chopra finished in eighth spot at the World Championships last year. “I had some injury before Tokyo. We worked on it and I competed, but I don’t think it was a good decision. I knew I had a problem, but I still went ahead because it was the last competition of the season,” he said while speaking to the media.
Chopra also parted ways with javelin throw legend Jan Zelezny due to logistical challenges. “After Tokyo, I had to stay in one place for the season and that was not possible for me. So we decided that maybe I need to work with my ideas,” he had said.
