Kolkata : 2 time Olympics medalist and Indian star Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has breached 90m mark for first time in his iconic career, at Doha Diamond League 2025, finishing as runners up.
Making his season debut, Chopra produced the best throw of 90.23 m, on his 3rd attempt, which earned him a 2nd-place finish in the competition.
However, the joy of his historic throw was short lived, as Germany’s Julian Weber surpassed him with whooping throw of 91.06 m.
Weber, who looked in form throughout, became champion on his final throw, stopping Chopra from a historic win.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters finished 3rd in the event, while India’s Kishore Jena placed 8th.
Chopra opened the competition with impressive 88.40-meter in his 1st throw.
His 2nd attempt was marked as a no-throw Or foul as he crossed the line.
However, he made the historic throw of 90.23 meter, his personal best, in the 3rd attempt, surpassing his own previous national record of 89.94 meters, set at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022. His subsequent attempts were good but didn’t breach 90m mark again – 80.56 meters in the fourth, another foul in the fifth, and a solid 88.20 meters in the final round.
With this performance, Chopra became only the 3rd Asian and the 25th male javelin thrower in history to cross the coveted 90m mark. The elite 90m-plus club is headlined by legendary Czech thrower and world record holder Jan Zelezny, who now coaches Chopra. Among Asians, he joins Pakistan’s Olympic silver medallist Arshad Nadeem (92.97m) and Chao-Tsun Cheng of Chinese Taipei (91.36m).
Weber, meanwhile, began with a modest 82.83 meters but steadily climbed the ranks. His sequence-85.57m, 89.06m, 88.05m, and 89.84m-kept him in close contention. Then came the dramatic final throw: a mammoth 91.06 m that flipped the leaderboard and left Chopra in second place. It was also the first time Weber breached the 90m mark, making him the 26th man to achieve the feat.
“I am very happy to have breached the 90m mark but it’s a bitter-sweet experience,” Neeraj Chopra said later.
“My coach Jan Zelezny said today is the day when I can throw 90m. The wind helps and weather is little warm and that helps. I also told Julian that we can throw 90m. I am also happy for him (Julian)”.
“I believe I can throw farther than this in the coming events. We will work on some aspects and will throw 90m plus again this season,” he added.
Earlier in the competition, Chopra momentarily took the world lead with his first-round throw of 88.40 metres at the Qatar Sports Complex. Though his second attempt was ruled a no-throw, the reigning world champion looked in rhythm throughout his first outing of the season.
Notably, this achievement also marked Neeraj’s first major competition under the guidance of legendary javelin thrower Jan Zelezny. The Tokyo Olympic champion from India began working with the world record holder from the Czech Republic after ending his five-year partnership with former coach Klaus Bartonietz.
India’s Kishore Jena had a disappointing start as he registering just 68.07 meters in his opening attempt. He improved to 78.60 metres in his second, which proved just enough to secure him the 8th and final spot for the remaining rounds. Hanging on by the narrowest of margins, Jena lived to fight another round, but couldn’t have podium finish.
