Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage beat India’s Neeraj Chopra by just nine centimetres to win the men’s javelin at the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday and extended his unbeaten record against the Olympic Gold medalist this season. Pathirage produced a best throw of 88.14 metres at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise to win the title. Neeraj Chopra finished second with a season-best 88.05 metres while Grenada’s Anderson Peters claimed third place with 86.69 metres. The match was very close between Pathirage and Chopra. The Sri Lankan set the tone with 85.99 metres in his opening attempt before improving to 87.06 metres in the second round.
Neeraj Chopra began with 83.54 metres and he bounced back stronger in the second attempt. He threw the javelin to 88.05 metres and briefly moved into first place. It was his first throw beyond 88 metres since June 2025 and improved his previous season-best by more than two metres. Pathirage made another comeback On his third attempt, he sent the javelin out to 88.14 metres and took the lead by just nine centimetres. Neither athlete could improve on those marks in the remaining rounds and Pathirage managed to win the title.
The managed 83.72 metres with his third throw before fouling his fourth attempt. He skipped his fifth and closed with a throw of around 82 metres. Peters produced his best effort of 86.69 metres to secure third place. Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott finished fourth with 83.71 metres. Marc Anthony Minichello was fifth with 80.06 metres, followed by Curtis Thompson (78.13m), Jakub Vadlejch (77.32m), Artur Felfner (74.84m) and Simon Wieland.
Rumesh Pathirage beats Neeraj Chopra for third time in 2026
Rumesh Pathirage has beaten Neeraj Chopra for the third time this season. The Sri Lankan previously beat him at the Doha Diamond League and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Pathirage’s winning throw in Lausanne was well short of his world-leading 92.62 metres from Rome earlier in the year, but the 88.14m effort was enough to extend his winning run against the Indian.
Neeraj Chopra had a 88.05m throw offered and that is an encouraging sign after a difficult start to the 2026 season. He had not previously crossed 86 metres in competition this year, making the Lausanne performance his biggest throw of the season.
The Olympic gold medallist's 2026 campaign began late after a back injury which happened in late 2025 forced him to miss the latter part of the previous season. He made his competitive return in June. He has now competed in three events this season, with his best distances improving from one competition to the next.
Neeraj Chopra 2026 results
Doha Diamond League: Finished fourth with 85.69m. Pathirage won with 88.68m.
Commonwealth Games, Glasgow: Won silver with 85.83m, while Pathirage took gold with 89.75m.
Lausanne Diamond League: Finished second with a season-best 88.05m, just nine centimetres behind Pathirage’s winning 88.14m.
He has gone from 85.69m in Doha to 85.83m in Glasgow and then 88.05m in Lausanne and this means Neeraj Chopra is finding his rhythm and confidence. This will give him confidence ahead of the upcoming tournaments. His second-place finish also earned him valuable Diamond League points and lifted him into the top five of the standings and kept him in contention for a place in the season-ending final in Brussels.
