Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra sneaked into the Diamond League Finals, which will be held in Brussels on September 4-5. Neeraj made it to the six-man final despite not competing in three of the five meetings, including the Zurich Diamond League, which was held on Thursday, August 27.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, the Commonwealth Games champion, won the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday with a massive throw of 92.07m. It was his second-best throw, just short of the 92.62m effort he produced at the Rome Diamond League in June this year.
Neeraj finished second in the Lausanne Diamond League with an 88.05m throw, his season best, on August 21. He opened his season at the Doha Diamond League with a fourth-place finish, managing a best of 85.69m. The Indian javelin thrower, who won Commonwealth Games silver in July, finished with a total of 12 points and in sixth place.
At each Diamond League meeting, points are awarded to the top eight finishers in the men’s javelin throw on a sliding scale, from eight points for first place down to one point for eighth. At the end of the qualifying series, the top six athletes with the most accumulated points earn a spot in the season-ending Diamond League Final, with ties broken by an athlete’s season-best legal performance.
Kenya’s Julius Yego, who failed to make the final of the Commonwealth Games, finished fifth in Zurich with a best effort of 81.66m, doing just enough to secure his place in the six-man Diamond League Final.
ATHLETES QUALIFIED FOR DIAMOND LEAGUE FINALS 2026 (MEN’S JAVELIN)
1. Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (Sri Lanka) – 39 points
2. Anderson Peters (Grenada) – 35 points
3. Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago) – 23 points
4. Curtis Thompson (USA) – 20 points
5. Julius Yego (Kenya) – 13 points
6. Neeraj Chopra (India) – 12 points
While Rumesh Pathirage led the qualification standings, Peters, reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, Curtis Thompson of the USA, Yego and Neeraj also made it to the final.
Rumesh topped the qualification standings with 39 points from five meetings. Barring the Rabat Diamond League, where he finished second with 85.97m, Rumesh has won the other four Diamond League meetings this year.
On Thursday, Rumesh led the 10-man field in the Zurich Diamond League from start to finish. He threw 88.23m with his second attempt and improved it to 89.90m with his third. The Sri Lankan finished the meeting with a massive 92.07m throw, showcasing the consistency that has propelled him to No. 1 in the men’s javelin rankings this year.
Rumesh has had a terrific season in 2026. He has two throws in excess of 90m and seven beyond 88m, including five above 89m. The 23-year-old, who is eyeing gold at the Los Angeles Olympics, will be the man to beat in the Diamond League Final next week in Brussels.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a former world champion, finished second in Zurich with a season-best effort of 86.93m, while Poland’s Dawid Wegner finished third with a season-best throw of 85.16m.
For Neeraj, who has carefully managed his schedule after recovering from a back injury he suffered during the World Championships last year, the Diamond League Final will be a good test before the Asian Games, which begin next month. India’s Rohit Yadav produced the biggest throw of his career, hurling the javelin 87.68m at the Continental Tour Silver meet in Bhubaneswar. He did not compete in any Diamond League meetings this year but will be one to watch out for at the Asian Games.
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