Paavo Nurmi Games HIGHLIGHTS: Neeraj Chopra wins gold medal with 85.97m throw as he prepares for Paris 2024 Olympics

Neeraj is expected to be in action during the Diamond League meeting in Paris on July 7.

Reigning Olympic and World Champion Neeraj Chopra returns to action in fine fashion. The 26-year-old, who opened his season at Doha Diamond League with 88.36m before winning gold at Federation Cup with 82.27m, was forced to skip the event in Ostrava due to an adductor issue. 

However, the Indian performed well today and took the gold with 85.97m. 

Silver and bronze medals both go to local athletes - Toni Keränen (84.19m) and Oliver Helander (83.96m).

Last round begins. 

Etelätalo fouls in his last attempt.

Dehning wraps up his day with 77.81m and stays seventh.

Third foul for Walcott and he will finish sixth.

Foul for Mardare also. He stays in fifth spot.

Third straight foul in this round, this time from Peters.

Make that another foul. Helander will have to settle for bronze.

Can Keränen make things interesting and overtake Neeraj? No, he can’t as he also commits a foul. Gold confirmed for Neeraj Chopra!

Still, the Indian will go for his final attempt. And he finishes with 82.97m.

Etelätalo comes up with his best throw so far - 79.35m. However, that does not take him past Dehning.

Second foul throw for Dehning, the 19-year-old German.

Mardare moves up to fifth with 82.19m, his season’s best throw.

Walcott cannot reclaim fifth spot with 78.39m.

Former world champion Peters comes up with an underwhelming throw of 76.97m.

Helander fouls while Keränen decides to skip this attempt. 

Neeraj, clearly not happy with his throw, decides to intentionally commit a foul.

Round four is underway. 

Etelätalo starts with a foul throw and stays last.

Dehning comes up with 79.04m.

For Mardare, it is 80.55m, which is closer to his third-round attempt.

Second foul throw from Walcott.

81.16m throw from Peters. 

Keränen moves into second position with a personal best of 84.19m!

Helander, with 81.30m, will have to stay in third spot for now. 

Neeraj finishes the fourth round with 82.21m, his worst throw of the day. Still, he stays on top.

And now, the athletes will take their turns in ascending order. So, Neeraj will go last.

Neeraj comes up with a much better throw of 85.97m He knew it as soon as the javelin left his hand as he raised his arms in celebration.

Foul for Peters.

Helander comes up with 82.60m. Not good enough to go past the Indian.

No improvement for Lassi Etelätalo - 74.95m.

Dehning has decided to skip his attempt in this round.

Walcott’s third-round effort is 79.54m.

79.47m for Keränen.

Mardare moves past Dehning into sixth spot with 80.92m.

Neeraj starts the second round with 83.45m.

No improvement for Peters either - 81.82m.

And local guy takes the lead!!!! Oliver Helander comes up with 83.96m

Lassi Etelätalo also improves - 77.69m.

For Walcott, it is a foul throw. Same for Dehning.

Third local guy Toni Keränen comes up with another good throw - 82.19m.

78.57m for Mardare to finish the second round.

Neeraj Chopra starts with a throw of 83.62m. 

Anderson Peters’ opening throw is 82.58m.

Not the ideal start for home favourite Oliver Helander - 78.38m.

Another Finn in action, Lassi Etelätalo - 73.84m.

Former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott opens with a season’s best of 81.93m.

Young German and world leader Max Dehning starts with 79.84m.

Toni Keränen, another local athlete, takes the second spot by the barest of margins - 82.59m.

Final throw of the first round - Moldova’s Andrian Mardare - 79.34m

Neeraj’s only appearance at the Paavo Nurmi Games came in 2022 where he finished second with 89.30m.

Germany’s Johannes Vetter set the meet record in 2020 with a throw of 91.49m. If Neeraj wants to break it, he will have to go past his own National Record of 89.94m by a considerable margin.

With 90.20m, Germany’s Max Dehning has the world-leading throw. The 19-year-old achieved the feat during the German Winter Throwing Championships in Halle in February. In the process, he broke Neeraj Chopra’s U20 World Record of 86.48m.

Doha Diamond League: Finishes second with 88.36m

Federation Cup, Bhubaneswar: Won gold with 82.27m

Reigning Olympic and World Champion Neeraj Chopra returns to action for the first time since last month’s Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar. He was forced to pull out of the Ostrava Golden Spike 2024 as precautionary measure, following an issue with his adductor muscle.

The 26-year-old Indian had won a silver in the 2022 edition of the Paavo Nurmi Games with a throw of 89.30m but pulled out of the event in 2023 as he was recovering from an injury.

This will be Neeraj’s third outing of 2024, after the the Doha Diamond League and the Federation Cup. 

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Neeraj Chopra (India): Personal Best - 89.94m, Season’s Best - 88.36m

Anderson Peters (Grenada): PB - 93.07m, SB - 86.62m

Oliver Helander (Finland): PB - 89.83m, SB - 85.75m

Lassi Etelätalo (Finland): PB - 86.44m, SB - 82.80m

Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago): PB - 90.16m, SB - 81.11m

Max Dehning (Germany): PB - 90.20m, SB - 90.20m

Toni Keränen (Finland): PB - 82.89m, SB - 82.77m

Andrian Mardare (Moldova): PB - 86.66m, SB - 82.18m

The men’s javelin throw event at Paavo Nurmi Games will begin at 9:45PM IST.

The event will be broadcast live on Sports 18 and streamed on Jio Cinema.