
Key Points
Neeraj eyes 90m barrier after 84.52m Potch Invitational win
Jena seeks redemption after 2023 Doha struggles
Parul Chaudhary makes steeplechase Diamond League return
Gulveer Singh debuts in 5000m with national record
Kishore Jena, who won silver at the Asian Games, will be there in the men's javelin throw competition alongside Neeraj, while national record holder Parul Chaudhary is entered for the women's 3000-meter steeplechase event. Gulveer Singh, another Indian athlete, is prepared for his Diamond League debut when he competes in the men's 5000m event.
Neeraj has had a successful career with the Qatar Sports Club, placing second in the Diamond League's Doha leg in 2024 and winning in 2023. For the past few years, Neeraj has also started his athletic season at the Doha competition.
However, following the Potch Invitational Meet in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April, this will be the former Olympic champion's second competitive competition of the year. The Indian ace won the competition with a respectable throw of 84.52 meters.
Neeraj, who will also be attempting to break the sought-after 90-meter barrier in Doha, holds the Indian national record for the men's javelin throw and has a personal best of 89.94 meters.
In the interim, Kishore Jena will be hoping to replicate his performance from two years prior, when he won a silver medal at Hangzhou 2023. Since the victory, the javelin thrower, who was born in Odisha, has had a difficult time. On his Diamond League debut last year, he placed ninth in Doha.
Except for Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena, the javelin throw field is dominated by big names like Grenada's former world champion Anderson Peters, who defeated Neeraj by one centimetre in the 2024 Doha Diamond League.
In her Diamond League debut at the Eugene leg last year, Parul Chaudhary, the national record holder for the women's 5000m and 3000m steeplechase, placed 16th in the steeplechase competition. Meanwhile, Gulveer Singh is poised for his maiden Diamond League run in Doha.
Gulveer owns the 5000m national record courtesy of a 13:11.82-second run he recorded in Japan last year. This is the largest Indian contingent in terms of numbers at any single Diamond League meet to date.
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