Olympic and world javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra is all set to start his season at the Doha Diamond League 2024, scheduled at the Qatar Sports Club on Friday. The event will be live streamed and telecast in India.

Joining the Indian ace in the men’s javelin throw competition in Doha will be Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena, who will be making his Diamond League debut.

Incidentally, the two Indian athletes, both of whom have already secured Paris 2024 Olympic quotas, were last seen in action at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Jena made a name for himself at the continental showpiece and challenged eventual gold medal winner Neeraj right till the end before settling for second place.

The Diamond League is an annual series of top-tier track and field competitions organised by World Athletics. The meeting in Doha is the third leg of the Diamond League 2024 series after the Xiamen and Shanghai/Suzhou legs in the People’s Republic of China.

However, the men’s javelin throw wasn’t a part of the two China legs.

Athletes accumulate points based on their performances in each Diamond League leg and the top athletes in each event qualify for the finals.

The winner in each event at the finals bag a Diamond League trophy. This year’s finals will be held in Brussels, Belgium in September.

Neeraj Chopra is the only Indian athlete to become a Diamond League champion, having clinched the men’s javelin throw crown in Zurich in 2022. However, he was pipped to the title by Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch last year.

Vadlejch, the silver medal winner from Tokyo 2020, is also on the entry list for this year’s Doha Diamond League.

Interestingly, Neeraj won last year’s Doha leg by finishing above Vadlejch and Grenada’s former world champion Anderson Peters, who is also competing in Doha this year.

World Championships finalist Oliver Helander of Finland, Japan’s Asian Championships gold medallist Roderick Genki Dean and Julius Yego of Kenya, a former world champion and the Rio 2016 silver medallist, also feature in the stacked men’s javelin field at Doha.

With an impending title defence at the Olympics, Neeraj Chopra, who achieved his personal best of 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022, will look to start his season on a high.

The Indian ace, who logged 88.67m to win the Doha meet last year, revealed that the 90m barrier will be very much on his mind when he takes the field on Friday.

“Since I threw 88.06m at the 2018 Asian Games, people have been asking me when I will break the 90m-mark,” Chopra said in the pre-event press conference. “A lot has happened since then, including my elbow injury. I have been stuck between 88 and 90m but I really want to break the 90m barrier.

“Doha is famous for 90m throws but I wasn’t lucky to do it last year because of the headwinds. Maybe tomorrow it’ll be good,” he added.

That being said, Chopra also clarified that it will be consistency throughout the season that will be his primary focus heading into Paris 2024.

“I will throw over 90m eventually but consistency is more important for me. Consistency has been one of my strengths over the years,” he noted.

The Diamond League will also be a good test for Kishore Jena, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past couple of years. He is also poised to make his Olympic debut later this year.

Where to watch Doha Diamond League 2024 live in India

The Doha Diamond League 2024 will be telecast live on the Sports18 3 and Sports18 1 HD TV channels in India. Live streaming of Doha Diamond League will be on Jio Cinema.

Doha Diamond League 2024 schedule: Javelin throw live times

Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena are scheduled to take the field in the men’s javelin throw event on Friday, May 10, from 10:12 PM IST (Indian Standard Time) onwards.