New Delhi: For much of the evening as the Lausanne Diamond League played out, Neeraj Chopra looked like a fish out of water. He was struggling and that was pretty much in line with what people expected after his injury announcement and the difficulties of it during the Paris Olympics.

His first four throws were middling at best — 82.10m, 83.21m, 83.13m, 82.34m. And as things stood, he seemed to be on course for his first non-top three finish in the DL since 2018. But that’s when his competitive juices started flowing.

The thing that makes Neeraj a special competitor is that he is never just there to compete. He always wants to win.

“In the beginning, it was really hard today,” Neeraj said after the event. “My body doesn’t feel good but I pushed myself mentally in the last attempt. In the last attempt (I wanted to give it my all) because (Anderson) Peters had thrown 90m... the body didn’t feel good but the fighting spirit was really nice today and I really like that comeback with my second-best throw.”

The fifth throw was 85.58m and Neeraj was warming up. The sixth was an even bigger 89.49m — eclipsing his previous season best by four centimetres — which earned the Indian the second spot behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who threw a massive 90.61m off his final attempt to win. Germany’s Julian Weber finished in third place with a throw of 87.08m, off his second attempt.

On their own, these throws by Neeraj, late in the competition, deserve praise. The Indian star, who recently won silver at the Paris Olympics, has earned himself a reputation of being an athlete who usually gives his best in his first few throws. But we have now seen instances of this starting to change.

He has been able to dig deep and produce big throws even as the competition comes to an end. But it’s never easy and some timely advice from fellow competitor Julius Yego helped.

“In the last throw I did not think much,” said Neeraj. “I just gave my best. In the beginning, I was thinking, ‘I have to do this... I have to do that’ and then Julius Yego said, ‘Stay relaxed and you will throw far.’ So I tried to stay relaxed and I threw far.”

The 90m throw continues to elude Neeraj but given the regularity with which he is breaching the 89m mark, it shouldn’t be too far away. After he released his final throw, he had a good feeling but he fell just short... again. The world is wondering about it, India is wondering about it but no one must think about it more than Neeraj himself.

“It was a strange competition today. In the beginning, I did not feel I can throw that far but then in the end, it was really good,” Neeraj said.

As things stand in the Diamond qualification standings after three of four meetings, Peters (21 points) and Jakub Vadlejch (16 points) have already secured qualification for the final which will see only the top six athletes take part. Neeraj and Weber, on 14 points, are in a good position to make it as well.

The groin injury that Neeraj had mentioned in Paris is still in the back of his mind but he showed the importance of staying mentally tough in Lausanne.

“Luckily after Paris, the injury was not too bad,” said Neeraj when asked about his injury. “So I did some treatment with my physio and it went well. I felt good, so I did some easy throwing sessions after Paris. When the season ends, I want to go to the doctor and deal with the groin issue so that I am 100% fit for the next season. Then, I will try to be technically better and hopefully, throw far again.”

For now, it just seems to be doubly important for Neeraj to see out this season without aggravating the groin issue any further. His throwing form is great and his fighting spirit is clearly second to none.

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