Neeraj Chopra at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha (© Matt Quine)
World and Olympic champions Neeraj Chopra and Miltiadis Tentoglou will get their 2024 Wanda Diamond League campaigns under way when they compete at the Seashore Group Doha Meeting on 10 May.
Indian javelin star Chopra will face off against the likes of Diamond League champion Jakub Vadlejch and two-time world champion Anderson Peters as he kicks off his bid to regain the Wanda Diamond League title.
Chopra became the first Indian athlete ever to be crowned Wanda Diamond League champion when he claimed the Diamond Trophy in 2022. He lost that title to Vadlejch last season, and will be keen to make a good start to this year's title tilt when he returns to a happy hunting ground in Doha, where he beat Vadlejch and Peters last year with 88.67m.
The trio will be joined at the Qatar Sports Club by European champion Julian Weber, world finalist Oliver Helander, Qatari record-holder Ahmed Bader Magour, Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena, World University Games champion Edis Matusevicius, Asian champion Roderick Genki Dean, Olympic finalist Andrian Mardare, and Pan American Games champion Curtis Thompson.
“This year, my personal goal is to retain my Olympic title, but it would also mean a lot to me to break the 90-metre barrier,” said Chopra, whose PB stands at 89.94m. “The Doha Meeting, with good conditions and a great atmosphere, is a perfect opportunity to get my season off to the best start. I’m always overwhelmed by the warm support I get from Indians across the world and in Qatar that is particularly special. I feel privileged that so many people come out to support me and I hope I can repay their faith in me with a good performance.”
Tentoglou – the Olympic, world indoor and outdoor, and European indoor and outdoor long jump champion – will be competing at the Seashore Group Doha Meeting for the first time.
"I was in Doha for the World Championships in 2019, but I’ve never competed at the Diamond League meeting,” said Tentoglou, who has a PB of 8.60m. “The conditions in Doha are perfect and there is always a little wind, so I'm hoping to start strong in my 2024 outdoor season.”
