When will Neeraj Chopra be in action again after Olympics? Golden boy likely to throw his javelin on this date

After a successful campaign at the Paris Olympics where the golden boy clinched the only silver for India, Neeraj Chopra will be back in action on August 22 for the Lausanne Diamond League.

"... I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which begins August 22," said Neeraj Chopra.

During the Paris Olympics, Chopra had expressed his desire to play in the Diamond League Final to be held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 14. For that to happen, he will have to play at least one DL Meeting -- either in Lausanne on August 22 or in Zurich on September 5.


"His team (of coach and physio) will decide whether he will play in the DL Meetings (and the DL Final), according to his condition," the family source said.

Chopra has played in just one Diamond League Meeting -- on May 10 in Doha where he had finished second to reigning DL trophy winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic. Chopra, who had won the DL Trophy in 2022, is currently at joint fourth position with seven points in the DL Final points standings.

The top six finishers in the DL Meetings series will compete in the DL Final. If he misses both Lausanne and Zurich, Chopra might miss the top-six spot.

After winning a silver in the Olympics with a season's best throw of 89.45m, Chopra had hinted that he would have to undergo surgery on his groin injury, which has been troubling him for the last couple of years.

Chopra had revealed that when he was throwing, 60-70 per cent focus was on his injury. He said his doctor had told him to undergo surgery before the World Championships last year but he did not do so in view of the Paris Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra's ongoing battle with injury
India javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra opened up about his injury woes after clinching a silver medal in the Olympics, revealing that he might have to undergo surgery soon after having pushed himself extremely hard to compete here while battling a constant fear of breaking down. Chopra was dealing with a nagging adductor niggle (a problem related to muscles in the thigh) in the run up to the Paris Games. But he managed a season's best effort of 89.45m to secure a silver medal, making him the first track-and-field athlete from India to have two Olympic medals, the first being an unprecedented gold in Tokyo.

Chopra finished behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who stole the show with an Olympic record-shattering throw of 92.97m to become the first individual Olympic gold-medallist from his country.

"I have a lot on my mind. When I am throwing, 60-70 per cent focus of my is on the injury. I don't want to get injured. Whenever I go for a throw, you will see that my speed is low. I am pushing myself," he said.

"The doctor told me to go for surgery but I didn't have that much time to take that decision before the world championship or after the world championship because it takes a lot of time to prepare for the Olympics," he added, referring to the 2023 world championship where he won gold.

The 26-year-old, despite not being at his best here, became only the third Indian to win back-to-back Olympic medals after PV Sindhu and Sushil Kumar.

(with agency inputs)