New Delhi: 

Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra created history as he finally breached the elusive 90m mark in the men’s javelin throw event at the 2025 Doha Diamond League on Friday. A stunning throw of 90.23m on his third attempt helped him achieve the sensational feat but it wasn’t enough to get him to a victory at the Doha Diamond League.

The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist was facing off against a formidable field of arch-rivals, including 2024 Olympics bronze-winner Anderson Peters of Grenada, Vadlejch of Czechia and the German duo of Julian Weber and Max Dehning.

He made an excellent throw of 88.44m straight out of the blocks in the first attempt, showcasing his class once again but it was the third attempt on which he scripted history. His second attempt was a foul throw.

After throwing his career-best throw, Neeraj was in the lead right up to the last round but a sensational throw of 91.06m by Germany’s Julian Weber stunned all and pushed him to the second spot.

Kishore Jena, India’s other participant in the event, finished eighth. Meanwhile, Chopra became first Indian, the 25th man overall to cross the 90m barrier, which he had been chasing for a while and the third man in Asia.

Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem (92.97m) of Pakistan and Chao-Tsun Cheng (91.36m) of Chinese Taipei are the two other Asians to have breached the coveted mark.

Chopra won the title in Qatar’s capital two years ago with a best throw of 88.67m, but failed to defend the crown in 2024 after finishing second behind Jakub Vadlejch’s effort of 88.38m.

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