Neeraj Chopra has secured his place in the Diamond League Finals in Brussels despite competing in only two legs of the prestigious series, while the Indian javelin star is also on course for a place at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest.
The 28-year-old collected 12 points after finishing runner-up in Doha and Lausanne, enough to secure sixth place in the final standings and qualify for the winner-takes-all Diamond League finale on September 5.
Two Meets, Enough To Qualify
Chopra competed in just two of the five Diamond League meetings featuring men’s javelin this season.
He finished second in Doha on June 19 before repeating the result in Lausanne on August 21, where he threw 88.05m.
The Indian’s return to competition has come after recovering from a lower-back injury that had troubled him since September last year.
The injury delayed his season until the Doha Diamond League, but Chopra gradually regained his rhythm.
He was not fully fit at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, where he still managed to win silver with a season-best throw of 85.83m. His Lausanne effort of 88.05m represented a significant improvement.
Brussels Awaits A Winner-Takes-All Battle
The top six athletes in the men’s javelin standings have qualified for the Diamond League Finals, which will be held in Brussels on September 4 and 5.
The men’s javelin competition is scheduled for September 5.
The winner will receive a trophy and a minimum prize of USD 30,000, while the eighth-place finisher will earn USD 1,000. If javelin is selected as one of the Diamond+ disciplines, the winner’s prize will rise to USD 60,000.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage finished top of the standings with 39 points and enters the final as the overwhelming favourite.
Pathirage competed in all five Diamond League javelin events, winning four and finishing second once. He underlined his dominance again in Zurich on Thursday, producing a massive 92.07m throw.
That was his second 90m-plus effort of the season after his 92.62m throw in Rome.
Anderson Peters of Grenada finished second in the standings with 35 points, while reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago was third on 23.
Curtis Thompson of the USA and Kenya’s Julius Yego completed the top five.
Germany’s Julian Weber, the only other javelin thrower to cross 90m this season with his 90.40m effort at the European Championships in Birmingham, will miss the Finals after an injury-hit campaign.
Budapest Could Bring Another Showdown
Chopra’s season could extend beyond Brussels, with the Indian also currently in contention for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest from September 11 to 13.
Chopra is seventh on the qualification list for the eight-man men’s javelin field, while another Indian, Sachin Yadav, is eighth.
The final list of eligible athletes will be announced on September 6.
Pathirage, Peters, Curtis Thompson and Weber currently sit ahead of Chopra on the Road to Ultimate Championships list.
Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and world champion Keshorn Walcott have already secured qualification through their titles.
Chopra could also earn an automatic invitation by winning the Diamond League Finals in Brussels.
A New Championship For Athletics’ Elite
The inaugural Ultimate Championships will bring together Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League winners in a new season-ending competition.
The remaining places will be determined through world rankings, with the qualification period running from September 2, 2025 to September 1, 2026.
The biennial event has been introduced for years without an outdoor World Championships and carries a total prize purse of USD 10 million.
The gold medallists will receive USD 150,000.
For Chopra, the next few weeks could therefore offer two major opportunities — first to reclaim Diamond League supremacy in Brussels and then potentially to compete against the biggest names in world athletics in Budapest.
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