Athletics, Zurich Diamond League as it happened: Chopra finishes 2nd; Sreeshankar into DL Final

That’s it from us tonight! Thank you and good night!

Zurich Diamond League meet: No wins for either Neeraj Chopra or Sreeshankar Murali tonight. But a decent outing nonetheless for both. Chopra was possibly fatigued after winning the World Championships last week and needed some time to get going but did enough to reach the final and fell just 15cm short of another first-placed finish at DL meet. Sreeshankar joined Chopra in the Diamond League Final which will be held in Eugene, USA after finishing the season third with 14 points. Crucially, he had some good jumps to showcase after a poor outing at the Worlds last week.

Men’s javelin throw: It won’t be a hat-trick of Diamond League meet wins for Neeraj Chopra. He comes up with an big throw of 85.71m with his final attempt. It is his best attempt for the night but it’s 0.15m short of Vadlejch’s attempt. The Czech athlete wins his second Diamond League meet of the season.

Men’s javelin throw: Vadlejch cannot improve on his best throw after committing a big foul.

Men’s javelin throw: Jakub Vadlejch will throw first in this three-man final.

Men’s javelin throw: No one is able to dislodge the top three and it will be a final between Vadlejch, Chopra and Weber.

Men’s javelin throw: Another foul throw from Chopra. He stays second but will now need to wait if he stays there to get a sixth and final throw.

Men’s javelin throw: BOOM! Neeraj is back! He comes up with a big throw, for the night, of 85.22 to climb to second after four throws.

Men’s long jump: Sreeshankar finishes fifth for a second Diamond League meet running after Radek Juska comes up with a jump of 8.04m to climb to fourth. Sreeshankar finishes with 14 points in the season and qualifies for the Diamond League Final to be held in Eugene.

Men’s javelin throw: The competition is heating up with Vadlejch and Weber both throwing in excess of 85m with their fourth attempts. Vadlejch leading with a throw of 85.86m with Weber throwing 85.04m.

Men’s long jump: Ah, Sreeshankar’s competiton is over tonight. Jarrion Lawson posts a jump of 8.05m to climb to second and push Sreeshankar to fourth. Since only the top three get a sixth attempt, Sreeshankar’s competition is over. Now we wait to see where he finishes.

Men’s long jump: A 7.93m jump from Sreeshankar with his fifth attempt. He now faces an anxious wait to see if he will be in the top three after everyone is done with their fifth jumps. At the Diamond League meets, only the top three jumpers after five jumps get a sixth attempt.

Men’s long jump: Tajay Gayle takes the lead! The 2023 World Championship bronze medallist comes up with an 8.07m jump to pip Tentoglou to the top.

Men’s long jump: Tentoglou skips his fourth attempt. Sreeshankar jumps 7.96m once again and stays in second.

Men’s javelin throw: Oh! Another foul throw from Neeraj! Since the Diamond League stream hasn’t shown the javelin event, we cannot say if Chopra is struggling with an injury or if there is some other issue. He stays fifth with a best throw of 80.79.

Men’s long jump: After the first three attempts, Sreeshankar stays in second courtesy of his first attempt of 7.99m.

Men’s javelin throw: After the first attempts, we have an unlikely leader in Lithuania’s Edis Matusevicius who has a throw of 81.62. Chopra, meanwhile, registers a foul throw with his second attempt. Vadlejch then takes the lead with a throw of 83.46m.

Men’s long jump: Sreeshankar with a foul jump with his third attempt. He stays second.

Men’s javelin throw: Looks like the conditions are not the best for javelin or perhaps it is fatigue from the World Championships. Anderson Peters registers a throw of 78.78m while Jakub Vadlejch and Julian Weber registering foul throws.

Men’s javelin throw: Neeraj Chopra gets the javelin throw competition underway. Not the best of throws from the new World Champion as he registers a throw of 80.79m.

Men’s long jump: Sreeshankar does not improve on his first attempt registering a jump of 7.96m with his second. The Indian is still second though.

Men’s long jump: Tentoglou snatches the lead with the first 8m+ jump of the night. The Greek World Champion jumps 8.04m.

Men’s long jump: A good start for Sreeshankar! He tops the standings ahead of World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou.

Men’s long jump: Sreeshankar will be in action first tonight. The Kerala athlete is third in the standings with 10 points but he is not guaranteed of a place in the Diamond League final. Only the top six athletes in the long jump will qualify for the final and only five points separate the athletes ranked from third to ninth. A top four finish tonight should be enough for Sreeshankar to reach the Final but it’ll be easier said than done given how tough the competition is tonight.

Hello and welcome to Scroll’s coverage of the Diamond League meet in Zurich.

Newly-minted World Champion Neeraj Chopra is back in action in the Diamond League as he eyes a hat-trick of first-placed finishes in the league this season. Chopra has already qualified for the Diamond League Final by winning the Doha and Lausanne meets.

Sreeshankar Murali, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing campaign at the World Athletics Championships where he failed to reach the men’s long jump final. The Indian is third in the qualification standings and needs a good finish tonight to seal his spot in the Diamond League Final at the fourth and final long jump qualification meet.

Screenshots / photos in the blog courtesy Doha Diamond League results page / Viacom18 / Wanda Diamond League media zone.