India’s gold machine Neeraj Chopra bags the gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games 2024 athletics meet in Turku, Finland on Tuesday.
The Olympic and world champion came up with a best throw of 85.97m in his third attempt to emerge victorious in the latest competition on his road to defending the title at the Paris 2024 Olympics later this year.
Finland’s Toni Keranen won silver with a personal best of 84.19m, while compatriot Oliver Helander, who had denied Neeraj gold at this meet two years ago, took bronze with an 83.96m effort.
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada finished fourth with 82.58m.
For the 25-year-old Neeraj, the Turku success marked his third event of the 2024 season. He had started with a second-place finish (88.36m) at the Doha Diamond League in May before grabbing gold at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar with an 82.27m throw.
Making a return after skipping the Ostrava Golden Spike meet last month due to a minor muscle issue, the Indian ace opened the competition with an 83.62m attempt to lead the first series. He slipped briefly in the second round before unleashing his best of 85.97m in the third to regain the top spot.
Neeraj’s other legal throws were 83.45m, 82.21m and 82.97m as he comfortably took the gold ahead of the Finnish duo.
The performance will bolster Neeraj’s confidence further as he continues his preparations to defend the Olympic title in Paris, having missed the 90m mark narrowly in recent times with his national record of 89.94m.