Neeraj Chopra to give Doha Diamond League miss; Nadeem, Rumesh part of star-studded field

New Delhi [India], June 13 (ANI): India’s Olympic gold medalist and former world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be giving the Doha Diamond League a miss, making it the first time in four years that he is not competing in the competition.

As per Olympics.com, the Doha Diamond League entry list released by the organisers did not feature the two-time Olympic medalist for the event scheduled on June 19. Neeraj will not be coming back to the venue where he made history by registering the 90 m mark for the first time last year.

The Indian javelin superstar secured a win in Doha Diamond League 2023 with a top effort of 88.67 m, with the next season bringing him a second-place finish with 88.36 m. Last year, he produced his personal best and national record of 90.23 m, but finished as runner-up behind Germany’s Julian Weber, who had the best throw of 91.06 m.

Neeraj’s absence, though, is on expected lines as he is currently attending a 47-day off-season training camp in Switzerland, with the hectic season this year including marquee events like the Commonwealth Games (July 23-August 2) and Asian Games (September 19 to October 4). The training camp at the Olympic Training Centre in Bienne will conclude on July 10.

Neeraj finished his last season on a poor note, failing to defend his world title in the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo, finishing eighth, while battling injuries which hampered his performance. The javelin superstar is yet to start his 2026 season.

At Doha, there will still be plenty of stars taking part as Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, who arrives at the event after a season-best throw of 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League earlier this month, will represent Asia on the grand stage. Pathirage’s performance at Rome is the second-best javelin performance by an Asian behind Arshad Nadeem’s 92.97 at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Doha Diamond League will also feature stalwarts like current world champion, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago and former world champions Anderson Peters of Grenada and Kenya’s Julius Yego. USA’s Pan American Games gold medallist Curtis Thompson and Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch, an Olympic and world championship silver medallist, are also taking part in the Doha meet.

The Doha meet is the seventh stop of the 2026 Diamond League season, with the series finale scheduled from September 4 to 5 in Brussels. (ANI)

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