Merely hits with no misses? 2012 saw Bayern Munich narrowly miss winning the UEFA Champions League at home. Before Jupp Heynckes’ team ended their 12-year quest for a UEFA Champions League victory in 2013, the Bavarian giants had to make do with a runners-up medal. That was in 2013. After losing to Chelsea in the Champions League in 2021, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City lifted the coveted title in 2023 after defeating Inter Milan by a slim 1-0 margin.
Before the historic summit match versus South Africa in the Caribbean, even Team India suffered a string of last-minute heartbreaks. Is the runner-up forgotten by all? The last time javelin phenom Neeraj Chopra finished outside the top 2 was in the Kuortane Games in 2021. After a season of near-misses, Neeraj secured another podium position on Saturday, narrowly missing out on first place in the 2024 Diamond League final by just 0.01 of a meter.
India’s “golden boy,” overshadowed by comeback kid Anderson Peters, threw a best throw of 87.86 meters Tuesday at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Peters fired the 87.87-meter winner to win the Diamond Award in Comic City, with Neeraj missing the mark by a mere centimeter. Chopra finished the 2024 season as the Diamond League runner-up, mirroring his 2023 performance.
This season, the defending world champion has already finished in second place at the Olympics in Paris, the Doha Diamond League, and the Lausanne Diamond League. World champion Chopra ended the 2024 season in second position once more, earning USD 12,000 (INR 10.06 lakh) in the Diamond League series’ grand finale. With 14 points, the javelin sensation took fourth place in the overall standings.
In the league series, the 26-year-old made his debut in Doha by taking second place (88.36 m). After finishing in second place at Lausanne, the gold medallist from the Tokyo Olympics made it to the league final with a season-best throw of 89.49 meters on his last try. Neeraj doubled his total in the championship match, taking home USD 12,000 as prize money from the series.
In addition to winning the Diamond Trophy and the bronze medal at the Paris Games, top-ranked Peters also took home USD 30,000 (about Rs. 25.16 lakh) in prize money. Another wildcard for the World Athletics Championships is the Grenadian javelin thrower. Chopra is renowned for finishing ahead of Peters at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
In the Summer Games of 2024, Arshad Nadeem broke the world record on the biggest platform, scoring a personal best of 92.97 meters to win Pakistan’s first Olympic gold since 1984. Neeraj’s two consecutive Olympic medals in Paris bring him up to the ranks of 2008 and 2012 Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar and 2021 Olympic shuttler PV Sindhu.
Silver medallist Neeraj, though, received no financial compensation in Paris. Only Olympic champions in Paris were granted cash incentives, and Arshad was awarded US$50,000. The winners of silver and bronze medals from the 2028 Summer Olympics will also get financial awards.
