Neeraj Chopra, Murali Sreeshankar to compete at Zurich Diamond League on Thursday

Javelin throw World champion Neeraj Chopra and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar will be the two Indian athletes in action at the Zurich Diamond League 2023 in Switzerland on Thursday.

The Zurich meet also known as the Weltklasse Zurich, is the 11th leg of the Diamond League 2023 season, as per Olympics.com.

Reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will go into the Zurich meet after winning a historic gold medal at the World Athletics Championships 2023 last week, becoming the first Indian to be crowned world champion in any track and field category.

The 25-year-old Chopra, who holds the javelin throw national record of 89.94m, is also the reigning Diamond League men’s javelin throw champion. Interestingly, the Indian javelin ace won the title last year at the same Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, where he will be competing on Thursday.

Neeraj Chopra won the first two Diamond League javelin events this season in Doha and Lausanne but sat out the Monaco leg in July.

Chopra is currently third in the men’s javelin throw qualifying standings for the Diamond League 2023 finals with 16 points. Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic and Germany's Julian Weber, are placed first and second with 21 and 19 points, respectively.

The top eight after all the legs will make the finals in Eugene.

At Zurich, Neeraj Chopra is likely to face a world-class 10-man field, which includes former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, Jakub Vadlejch and Julian Weber.

Murali Sreeshankar will be competing in his third long jump event of the 2023 Diamond League season. The 24-year-old finished third and fifth at the Paris and Lausanne legs, respectively.

Heading into Zurich Diamond League 2023, Sreeshankar put on a disappointing show at the World Athletics Championships 2023, failing to make the final.

Sreeshankar, who has a personal best of 8.41m, will compete against the likes of Greece’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Miltiadis Tentoglou, who is also the reigning Diamond League and world champion. The 10-man field in Zurich will also include home favourite Simon Ehammer, the 2022 world championships bronze medallist.

Diamond League is an annual event comprising a series of top-tier track and field competitions organised by World Athletics. The Diamond League final will be held in Eugene, USA on September 16 and September 17. (ANI)