India javelin star Neeraj Chopra finally breached the elusive 90m-mark when he threw a new personal best of 90.23 m at the Doha Diamond League on Friday. With the throw, he become the 25th man in the world to break the 90m barrier in the javelin throw event.
However, he was pipped by Julian Weber of Germany who made a season lead mark of 91.06m and finished first on Friday.
Neeraj looked in good form with his first throw of the night when he started with a monstrous 88.44m throw before fouling in his second attempt. But he made it up in the third attempt when he breached the 90m-mark, a feat that Neeraj has chased for a long time.
Neeraj is now placed 26th in the world leading mark table in men’s javelin throw. Max Dehning of Germany with a mark of 90.20 and Kehron Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago with a mark of 90.16 are behind Chopra in the +90m list. Chopra’s coach Jan Zelenzny of Czech Republic leads the world mark table with a world record throw of 98.48m made in 1996.
Neeraj Chopra, only the 25th javelin thrower to cross the 90m mark.
Video: Diamond League/YouTube pic.twitter.com/FWA3aWSrAo— Mihir Vasavda (@mihirsv) May 16, 2025
Out of the 25 javelin throwers with 90m-plus throws in the world, six throwers are from Germany, four are from Finland, two from Czech Republic, one each from Grenada, Pakistan, Kenya, Russia, Greece, Norway, Great Britain, Chinese Taepei, USA, Latvia, Estonia and Trinidad and Tobago apart from Neeraj Chopra from India.
Neeraj Chopra had broken the 70m mark with a throw of 70.19 at Federation Cup at Patiala in 2014. He crossed the 80m mark next year at the Inter-University Championships at Patiala. Since then Chopra has crossed the 80m mark 54 times. The throw of 90.23 marks the first time he has crossed the 90m mark.
Prior to Friday, Neeraj had come within less than a metre of the elusive 90m mark with the closest being the throw of 89.94m in Stockholm Diamond League in 2022.
“I feel really good. The last throwing sessions were really great. I am ready,” he had said on Thursday. “I am very excited to open my season in Doha.”
Story continues below this ad
Chopra had insisted he has a ‘big throw’ in him, but the injury has been holding him back. And Zelezny already seems to have had an impact off the field on the injury front. Chopra hasn’t directly related the two, but earlier this year, he travelled to Prague, where he consulted a doctor Zelezny recommended to heal his groin injury. The Czech has also been striving to make Chopra, who already boasts of a monster mentality, even stronger mentally.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd