Neeraj Chopra, on Friday night, achieved a feat that has eluded him for the longest time in his illustrious career – the coveted 90m mark.
At the Doha Diamond League 2025 event, he hit the 90.23m mark on his third throw to bring the capacity crowd to its feet.
Watch the moment here:
Chopra began the evening by sending his javelin to the 88.44m mark on his very first throw. He looked good from the word go and the elusive mark appeared to be within reach.
His second attempt was a foul, but he looked on course for something special.
And that moment did arrive on Chopra’s third attempt.
With a characteristic war cry, he sent his javelin soaring through Doha’s night sky and when it landed, the customary raise of the arms followed.
With the board reading 90.23m, the moment had well and truly arrived. A personal best and a new Indian national record.
That throw was the ‘world lead’ at the time, but Germany’s Julian Weber was hot on Chopra’s heels on the night and was not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
With his final effort of the competition, Weber registered a 91.06m throw to pip Chopra and take top honours and the new ‘world lead’ for 2025.
That said, as the dust settles, Chopra will look back on the night and tell himself that the 90m mark has well and truly been breached.
And now, with the proverbial monkey off his back, he can only go further.
