Neeraj Chopra scales 90m mark for the first time in his career, finishes 2nd in Doha Diamond League
Doha Diamond League: Neeraj Chopra breaches the 90m mark for the first time in his career. However, the effort isn't enough as he finishes second.
The inevitable finally happened. India's Neeraj Chopra breached the 90m mark for the first time in his career on Friday as he scaled the barrier during the Doha Diamond League. In his third attempt in the men's javelin throw final, the 27-year-old registered a throw of 90.23m. As soon as the Indian sensation achieved the landmark, the entire crowd roared in jubilation and started applauding.
However, Neeraj Chopra's throw of 90.23m was not enough, as Julian Weber of Germany came from behind in his final attempt to register a throw of 91.06m. In the end, Neeraj Chopra finished second in the men's javelin throw event, behind Julian Weber.
Anderson Peters of Grenada finished third, while India's Kishore Jena ended up in the eighth position.
It must be mentioned that this is the first time Julian Weber has crossed the 90m mark in the javelin throw event. The German athlete is now the 26th man to do so.
Earlier, Neeraj Chopra started the event with a first attempt of 88.44m. His second attempt was not counted as it was registered as a foul. In his fourth attempt, Neeraj registered a throw of 80.56m. Neeraj Chopra's fifth throw was a foul while his last attempt fetched a throw of 88.20m.
By going past the 90m mark, Neeraj Chopra became the 25th man to cross the landmark in the men's javelin throw event. Neeraj also broke his own national record of 89.94m, which he had set in the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022.
Neeraj's throw of 90.23m is the 24th-best throw in the history of men’s javelin throw event. It must be mentioned that Chopra’s coach, Jan Zelenzny of the Czech Republic, registered the world record throw of 98.48m in 1996.
Out of the 26 javelin throwers to have registered the 90m-plus throws in the world, seven belong to Germany, four to Finland, two to the Czech Republic, and one each from Grenada, Pakistan, Kenya, Russia, Greece, Norway, Great Britain, Chinese Taipei, USA, Latvia, Estonia, Trinidad and Tobago and India.
This throw of 90.23m is now India’s national record mark. Neeraj Chopra had earlier captured the imagination of the entire world after winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. His win was instrumental in India warming up to javelin throw as a sport.
Neeraj Chopra then followed it up with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Not just this, the athlete is also a double medallist at the World Championships and the Asian Games. He has won the Diamond League once.
