In a not-so-common occurrence two Indian athletes will line up within minutes of each other to compete in a Diamond League at Lausanne a little past midnight on Friday night.

In-form long jumper Murali Sreeshankar will be the first to go, followed by javelin thrower gold medalist Olympics Neeraj Chopra a few minutes later. 

Two top-three finishes at the same Diamond League event is not ruled out because of the class of the two young but experienced Indian athletes. Such a feat will be the first for the country and will bode well with the World Championships in August and the Asian Games a month later.

Friday night will mark Chopra’s return to competition after a month’s injury layoff because of a muscle strain. Twenty-four-year-old Chopra’s only competition this season was the Diamond League in Doha. He was first with an impressive throw of 88.67 metres, a strong start to the season. 

However, he missed the FBK Games in Hengelo in Netherlands on June 4 and the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, 10 days later because of the injury. 

Yet, Chopra didn’t miss out on Diamond League points because the events at Rabat, Florence, Paris and Oslo did not have the men’s javelin throw. Chopra is leading the race to the Diamond League Finals with eight points, thanks to his first place finish in Doha.