Doha: Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra missed on the first place by the barest of margins as the Indian fell just 0.2m short of Jakub Vadlejch who threw his javelin at a distance of 88.38m on Friday. Chopra’s best throw in the competition came in his final attempt as he threw at a distance of 88.36m. Competing in his first competition in the Olympic year, Chopra’s first throw was ruled as a ‘No Throw’. However, he made a thunderous return in his second attempt to register 84.93m and shoot up to the second place.

The 26-year-old crossed 85m with his third attempt, sending his spear to a stunning 86.24m. Chopra’s fourth and fifth attempts were up his standards as the Indian registered 86.18m and 82.28m respectively before finding his rhythm in his final throw.

The 26-year-old Chopra trailed Czech Republic veteran Vadlejch — who won the title with his third round throw of 88.38m — all through the competition. Two-time world champion Anderson Peters took the third sport with a best throw of 86.62m.

Kishore Jena’s Diamond League debut ended in disappointment as he was eliminated after three rounds of throws, with 76.31m being his best. He began with a 75.72m, then fouled his second effort, before coming up with 76.31m to be at ninth after three throws each by all the 10 competitors.

The 28-year-old Jena has a personal best of 87.54m, a performance that fetched him a silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, but it was not his day on Friday. Vadlejch had won a silver in the Tokyo Olympics and a bronze in the 2023 World Championships, the two events in which Chopra had won gold.

Chopra had won the 2023 Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.67m, ahead of Vadlejch (88.63) and Peters (85.88m). The next Diamond League meeting which has men’s javelin as a discipline will be in Paris on July 7.

At each Diamond League meeting, athletes are awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points for ranking first to to eighth respectively. The top six javelin throwers will compete in the Diamond League Finals in Brussels on September 13-14 and the winner will lift the Diamond League champion’s trophy.