During the Doha Diamond League on Friday, Neeraj Chopra, the world champion and Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower for India, finally achieved a much-discussed milestone: he became the first person from his nation to reach the 90-meter mark.

Neeraj finished second in the season-opening event with a throw of 90.23 meters, behind Germany’s Julian Weber, who defeated the Indian with a spectacular performance of 91.06 meters in the last round of throws.

Neeraj, however, is the best of all Indian athletes with a new national record of 90.23 meters (breaking his previous record of 89.94 meters achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League 2022) and by becoming the first Indian to reach the desired mark, which was much disputed in the media.

As a young athlete, Neeraj excelled, winning gold in the 2016 South Asian and World U20 Championships, silver at the 2016 Asian U20 Championships, and gold at the 2017 Asian Championships.

His first notable achievement was at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, when he became the first Indian javelin thrower to win a gold medal with an effort of 86.47 meters.

With a throw of 88.04 meters, Neeraj also became the nation’s first javelin thrower to win a gold medal at the Asian Games that year.

Neeraj’s medal from the Tokyo Olympics is what made him the well-known figure he is today. When Neeraj threw his javelin 87.58 meters into the air on that momentous August 7th, it also catapulted his career into the next level of fame. Numerous endorsements, media microphones, social media followers, and advertising offers arrived, yet they didn’t disrupt a champion’s “The Zone.”

With a throw of 88.13 meters, he won the silver medal at the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Eugene, US, making him the first Indian man to win a medal. After Anju Bobby George (bronze in 2003), he was the second Indian medalist in the competition.

With a throw of 88.44 meters in Zurich later that year in September, he became the first Indian to win the Diamond League title.

Neeraj had an incredible year the following year, becoming India’s first-ever athletics world champion with a throw of 88.17 meters in Budapest. He defended his Asian Games title in Hangzhou the same year.

Neeraj was predicted to retain his title at the August Olympics in Paris the following year, and his consistency made him a strong favorite going into the competition. Only one of his throws, measuring 89.45 meters, was accepted as legitimate, however, as he finished second behind Pakistani arch-rival Arshad Nadeem’s startlingly incredible 92.97-meter throw, which set an Olympic record.

Despite having some injuries, Neeraj arrived with a lot of energy. Neeraj ultimately made up for the little letdown of Paris by hitting the 90-meter mark for the first time at Doha during the Diamond League, after taking adequate time off to recover from his injuries and now being coached by Jan Zelezny.

It’s fair to say that Neeraj has done it all with this toss. He has checked all the boxes, but there are undoubtedly still a lot more events to participate in and golds to add.

A number of renowned Indian athletes have left some unmet expectations. The woman who made Indian women’s tennis famous, Sania Mirza, was unable to compete in a singles Grand Slam. Despite being one of the best hitters of his period, Rahul Dravid was unable to win a World Cup as a player. Despite their tremendous football skills, players like Sunil Chhetri and Bhaichung Bhutia were unable to assist India in earning a spot in the FIFA World Cup. Most recently, Virat Kohli, who was hailed as a Test cricket ambassador, ended his career in the format before reaching the coveted 10,000-run milestone.

Perhaps, however, Neeraj has left nothing to be desired. Fans will surely continue to want more; they may even want to see him hold the world record, but he has become one of the few Indian athletes who have accomplished everything.