It also summed up the kind of year the champion javelin thrower from India had. After all, 2024 started with Neeraj finishing second at the Doha Diamond League meet by 2 centimeters. The season tested Neeraj’s abilities to the fullest possible extent. And yet, sample this for a return: one Olympic Games silver medal, a runner-up finish in athletics’ most important international event apart from Paris, three throws beyond 89m for his career’s second, third, and fifth-best marks. All under a stalking shadow of a niggle.

By any normal yardstick, that goes down as a successful season for a truly elite athlete. But, just like that night at the Stade de France in Paris, Neeraj’s reactions at the King Baudouin Stadium on Saturday night gave out the vibes of a man searching for something elusive.

The Diamond League finale was an event of two halves for Neeraj. Two of his best throws of the night came in the first half. And the common factor between those was that Neeraj was standing upright at the end of his follow-through. The left leg’s blocking action seemed consciously pronounced as he tried to avoid falling over to his left. The third throw, especially, is likely to be the template for the future. Nice easy pace on the runway, straighter, unbent left leg at the point of release, and finishing just inside the white line. The result was 87.86m.

But with each of his last three throws, Neeraj once again reverted to the style that we have seen in the past. As he tried to find that just a little bit extra – a couple of centimeters, literally – he leaned to the left side and overbalanced, falling over after releasing the spear.

“Right now, his throws aren’t right technically,” Neeraj’s physio Ishaan Marwaha had told The Indian Express recently after Lausanne DL. “When he throws, he falls towards the left and so, the javelin also travels towards the left. He falls because the block leg isn’t straight when he is releasing, it bends. So, he is not able to put all his force into the javelin.”

The conditions on the night didn’t lend themselves to big throws either. All the throwers made their way to the playing area in fully decked winter gear. “It was rather cold tonight and in the warming-up area there was no track, only grass. When we come to the stadium, the track is rather hard and the difference is big, so that made it a little difficult for us javelin throwers,” third-placed Julian Weber said after the event.

After his sixth throw, Neeraj fell again but got up with a roar. Now, that is a familiar sight. He seemed to like what he managed with the last competitive release of javelin in 2024. It wasn’t quite enough. After exchanging some notes with his coach Dr Klaus Bartonietz, the customary embraces followed with his counterparts as the season wound down. And finally, there was a hint of a smile as he took a few customary selfies with the fans.

Back in September 2022, Neeraj Chopra won the Diamond Trophy (the lovely trophy that winners of the Diamond League Final get) and said afterward in Zurich that he finally truly felt like a big part of global athletics. Tokyo happened in front of empty stands, and while Neeraj was already no stranger to winning, to see himself as one of the centers of attraction at a proper global athletics-only event, felt special. And he seemed to be revelling in it, enjoying the occasion.

Starting from Paris though, Neeraj has been throwing like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. As he steps away from the bright lights of the world’s biggest stages for a quieter off-season, Neeraj will begin the process to return to peak physical fitness.

But while he does so, one hopes Neeraj also finds the joy of javelin once more. “I feel there is a better throw left in me. Until I get that, shanti nahi mil paegi (I won’t be at peace),” he had said after the silver in Olympics. Perhaps the secret to that bigger throw he seeks might happen if he finds that peace.

PTI adds: Earlier, on Friday night, national record holder 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable finished ninth on Day 1 of events in Brussels. Sable, who turned 30 on Friday, clocked 8 minute and 17.09 seconds to finish ninth in the 10-man field in his debut DL final. Amos Serem of Kenya emerged as the Diamond League champion with a time of 8:06.90, while reigning Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali (8:08.60) of Morocco was second.