Neeraj Faces Nadeem, World Leader Pathirage in Star-Studded Lausanne Diamond League Field

Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will headline one of the strongest men’s javelin fields in recent years at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on August 21.

The 28-year-old Indian heads to Lausanne after winning silver in Glasgow, where he produced a season-best throw of 85.83m on his return to the Commonwealth Games after eight years.

The Lausanne meet will be his second Diamond League stop of the season after finishing fourth in Doha with 85.69m on his return from a 274-day hiatus due to injury. His previous competition before Doha was the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, where a recurring back injury restricted him to eighth place.

“I can’t say my fitness is the same as before, and I can’t say I’m fully fit either,” said the 2022 Zurich Diamond League winner after his silver-medal performance in Glasgow. “Doha was my first competition after returning, and my fitness is a little better now. There are more Diamond League competitions coming up, so I’m gradually getting back to full fitness with each event.”

The 28-year-old finished second at the 2024 Lausanne meet with a throw of 89.49m.

The organisers have confirmed a stacked field featuring the biggest names in the discipline, including Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Germany’s 2016 Olympic champion Thomas Röhler, Trinidad and Tobago’s reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott, and Grenada’s two-time world champion Anderson Peters.

Joining them will be Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, the breakthrough star of 2026 and the current world leader, who produced a throw of 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League before being crowned Commonwealth Games champion in Glasgow just a few days ago. The 23-year-old has crossed the 89m mark four times this season. American Curtis Thompson, ranked world No. 2 this season, is also part of the line-up.

“He (Pathirage) is a good boy,” Neeraj said while praising the Sri Lankan at the Doha Diamond League press conference. “He’s a friend of mine. This year he really threw well. It’s good he’s doing something great for Sri Lanka.”

The field also features European champion Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia and 2025 Zurich Diamond League winner Julian Weber of Germany, while Simon Wieland will represent the host nation.

“The five javelin superstars who have won the last four editions of the Olympic Games and World Championships will be present at Athletissima on August 21 for a competition of extraordinary quality,” the organisers said in a statement.

The meet will serve as a preparatory event for Neeraj, Pathirage and Arshad Nadeem ahead of their expected showdown at the Asian Games in Japan.

Lausanne is the 12th leg of the 2026 Diamond League, which will conclude with the two-day final in Brussels on September 4–5.

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