Paris, June 20: Having breached the 90m mark, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra would now be eyeing a top finish when he goes up against familiar rivals in the prestigious Paris Diamond League on Friday in a star-studded field here.Chopra, German ace Julian Weber and two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada will be among eight competitors vying for top honours in the second DL meeting of the season featuring men’s javelin throw on the roster. Five of the listed throwers have hit the 90m mark.
Weber had upstaged Chopra in the Doha DL on May 16 after the Indian superstar finally breached the elusive 90m mark. Weber had recorded 91.06m with his last throw to trump Chopra who had sent his spear to a distance of 90.23m in the same event.
The 31-year-old Weber had also beaten Chopra at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet on May 23 in Poland where both performed below their best under chilly and overcast conditions. Weber had produced 86.12m while Chopra could only come up 84.14m to finish second.
Peters was there in the field too at both the Doha DL and the Poland event. He had finished third in both.
In Paris, Chopra would look to upstage Weber after finishing second in back-to-back competitions as he returns to the French capital after eight years for a Diamond League competition.
Chopra had skipped the Paris DL last year in order to focus on the Olympic Games where he took the silver with a throw of 89.45m. He last competed in the Paris DL in 2017 as a junior world champion and finished fifth with a throw of 84.67m.