Neeraj Chopra once again came short against Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage as the Indian javelin ace finished second in the Lausanne Diamond League on Saturday. The 28-year-old took the top spot for a brief while after his second throw; however, Pathirage reclaimed the pole position soon enough, and Neeraj wasn't able to recover from there on. This is now the third time in the 2026 season that Pathirage has managed to get the better of India's two-time Olympic medallist.
Pathirage eventually won the Lausanne Diamond League with the best attempt of 88.14 metres, while Neeraj finished second with a best throw of 88.05m. Anderson Peters of Grenada came third with the best attempt of 86.69m.
Heading into the event, Pathirage had had the better of Neeraj in 2026 on two occasions. In their first encounter in June, Pathirage was better than Neeraj with a throw of 88.68m. The duo then clashed again at the CWG, where Pathirage won gold while Neeraj got silver.
Speaking of the Lausanne Diamond League, Neeraj began the competition with a throw of 83.54 metres, but his initial effort came short of Pathirage, and he was in second place for starters. It was with his second throw that Neeraj jumped to the top. The trademark roar came out after the second throw, and Neeraj registered 88.05metres, moving ahead of Pathirage and Peters.
However, Pathirage came roaring back into the contest, reclaiming the top spot with a throw of 88.14m in his third attempt. This put further pressure on Neeraj, and the Indian then registered 83.72 in his third attempt to stay second.
The pressure firmly got to Neeraj in the fourth attempt as the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist registered a foul, and there were only more tries left for the Indian to move ahead of Pathirage.
Speaking of the fifth attempt, Neeraj gave it a pass while Pathirage fouled. And with this development, the status quo remained, and it all boiled down to the sixth and final attempts. However, Neeraj was not able to get the job done in the final attempt as he threw just a little over 82 metres, and in the end, Pathirage ended up winning the competition.
The Lausanne Meet was really important for Neeraj's chances to climb the season-ending Finals standings. It is worth noting that only the top six athletes in javelin qualify for the final, and additional spots are available only through a national or global wildcard. Before the Lausanne Diamond League, Neeraj was seventh in the standings with five points.
Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan. Read More
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