Neeraj Chopra confirms participation in Lausanne Diamond League

India's ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will not take a break after winning a historic silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 earlier this month.

The 26-year-old said he would participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, scheduled for August 22.

"I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League," Neeraj said in a video interaction with the media, organised by JSW.

Earlier this month, Neeraj became the first Indian athlete to win a gold and silver medal at the Olympics.

After qualifying for the Paris Olympics final with an 89.34m throw, Neeraj looked patchy in the final, with five of his throws being deemed foul.

However, his second throw of 89.45m earned him the silver medal.

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal for throwing the spear to a distance of 92.97m.

By winning the silver medal, Neeraj became only the third Indian athlete to win consecutive medals in the Olympics.

He joined the likes of wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze and silver in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and shuttler PV Sindhu, who won silver in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2020.

The Lausanne Diamond League would be Neeraj's fourth event of the year. In May, Neeraj finished second at the Doha Diamond League. He then won the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar before winning the gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland.

Talking about the final in Paris, Neeraj said, "It is never easy to perform in the Olympics, especially when you are defending your medal...From there (second throw), I knew that I can breach the Olympic record but somehow I was not able to do as my body didn't allow. I am happy that I won a silver medal for the country; but I will work on the things that are needed to recover well."