Neeraj Chopra emerges winner at Golden Spike meet, joins coach Zelezny among title winners

Indian javelin throw celebrity Neeraj Chopra on Tuesday (June 25, 2025) clinched the title at the Golden Spike meet in his maiden look right here, his back-to-back win in a top-class competitors.

Fresh from his Paris Diamond League win on June 20, Chopra emerged on prime in a nine-man area in Ostrava, although with a modest effort of 85.29m within the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold occasion.

Douw Smit of South Africa was second along with his second spherical throw of 84.12m whereas two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada was third along with his opening try of 83.63m.

Chopra was at third at the tip of the second spherical after opening with a foul earlier than a 83.45m throw. But he jumped to the highest spot along with his third spherical effort of 85.29m. He recorded 82.17m and 81.01m in his subsequent two throws earlier than fouling his last try.

German Thomas Rohler, the gold winner within the 2016 Rio Olympics, completed seventh with a poor throw of 79.18m. The 30-year-old has been struggling for a while.

In the absence of Chopra’s German rival Julian Weber, the sphere in Ostrava was skinny and the double Olympic-medallist Indian was the favorite for the title.

The 27-year-old Indian was not at his greatest despite the fact that his coach Zelezny was current near him contained in the throw space because the Czech legend was the occasion director of the meet held in his dwelling nation.

Chopra had skipped the final two editions of Golden Spike — an occasion that his coach Zelezny gained 9 instances in a storied profession — because of health points.

He has had a powerful season to date, having gained his first Diamond League title in two years in Paris after additionally breaching the elusive 90m mark throughout his second place end in Doha DL in May.

Chopra have to be joyful to win the title, because the Golden Spike was world file holder Zelezny’s joyful searching floor throughout his taking part in days. The Czech legend, now 59, gained 9 titles between 1986 and 2006 — few of them with 90m-plus throws — on this prestigious occasion, which was first held in 1961.

Chopra has competed in Ostrava prior to now however not at Golden Spike. He was a part of the Asia Pacific crew that competed within the IAAF Continental Cup in 2018 and had completed sixth with a throw of 80.24m.

The Indian, after successful the Paris DL, had spoken about the necessity to work on his core muscle tissue for higher management on his throws after admitting that his run-up was maybe a shade too quick.

Weber had overwhelmed Chopra in Doha DL on May 16 and in Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet on May 23 in Poland however the Indian upstaged him in Paris on June 20 along with his first spherical throw of 88.16m.

Before Paris, Chopra had gained his final DL title in Lausanne in June 2023 with a throw of 87.66m.

Chopra’s subsequent competitors would be the NC Classic, which he’s internet hosting in Bengaluru on July 5. Peters and Rohler will even compete in Bengaluru.