Neeraj Chopra finally breached the elusive 90m frontier with a 90.23m throw but was just pipped at the post by Germany’s Julian Weber in a dramatic men’s javelin contest at the Doha leg of Diamond League on Friday. The 27-year-old double Olympic medallist Indian sent his spear to 90.23m in his third attempt to join a list of javelin throwers, led by his current coach Jan Zelezny of Czechia, who had recorded 90m-plus efforts. He became the third Asian and 25th overall to achieve the feat. But Weber’s sensational last throw of 91.06m. Still, it was a night that Neeraj can remember for a long time as a dream was finally achieved.
As Neeraj goes past the 90m for the first time, here’s a look at the throws that have defined his glittering career so far.
86.48m: World U20 Championships, Bydgoszcz (POL)
23 JUL 2016
In an interview before Paris 2024, Neeraj had said that the only throw that he had been satisfied till date was the 86.48m in the World Under-20 Championships 2016. “That was one throw where I felt it was a special, unique one, but I have not been satisfied with any throw since. I feel I haven’t got to my peak yet,” he recalled. It is the throw that shot him to the limelight, a junior world record that still stands.
87.58m: Olympic Games, Tokyo (JPN)
07 AUG 2021
The night he rewrote the history books. Neeraj went where no other Indian had gone before, becoming the first ever track & field gold medallist at the Olympic Games. Entering the event as one of the medal favourites, Neeraj set the tone in the qualification round even as some of the other favourites struggled in the Tokyo heat and in the final, he beat the field to clinch gold.
88.17m: World Athletics Championships, Budapest (HUN)
27 AUG 2023
The golden set was completed in Budapest. After having won all the major medals there is to be won for India, Neeraj added the gold at the World Championships too. And after winning the title, he reiterated how he still had the hunger to keep delivering. “As they say, throwers don’t have a finishing line. No matter how many medals you win, there will always be the motivation that you can throw further.”
89.94m: BAUHAUS-Galan, Stockholm (SWE)
30 JUN 2022
The closest Neeraj had come to completing the dream of 90m before Friday night in Doha. In the press interactions over the last couple of years, whenever the question of the 90m mark came up, Neeraj used to go back to this day in Stockholm, referring to how he was just 6 cm of that mark that he longed for. And now, he has bettered his own best to set a new benchmark for Indian athletics.
90.23m: Diamond League meet, Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha (QAT)
16 MAY 2025
And after coming close on numerous occasions in the past, a fully-fit Neeraj threw a new career-best in Doha to finally breach the 90m barrier. 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 from India.
