Neeraj Chopra achieved his personal best and India's national record - 90.23m - in javelin throw at the Doha Diamond League on May 16, 2025.
The wait was finally over. Neeraj Chopra, India's World Championships and Olympic gold medal-winning javelin thrower, has finally breached the elusive 90m mark.
Despite stellar exploits in the international arena - including Olympic gold in Tokyo, Olympic silver in Paris, and two Asian Games golds - Neeraj’s spear missed the 90 m mark by mere inches in recent years.
Almost three years after achieving his personal best (PB) and India’s national record (NR) of 89.94m, set on June 30, 2022, at the Stockholm Diamond League, Neeraj - now free from injuries - landed his maiden 90m-plus throw at the Doha Diamond League at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium on Friday, setting a new personal best and national record for India.
Neeraj, who has now recovered from a groin injury that troubled him throughout the last season, landed the spear at a distance of 90.23m in his third attempt. The 27-year-old celebrated the moment by raising his hand as fellow throwers came forward to congratulate him on his historic achievement.
"I always thought that 90m was within reach. I had thrown 88-plus a couple of times," Neeraj told RevSportz after the event in Doha. "Coach Jan Železný was with me – he kept saying it would happen today and that I could do better than this. I started training with him in February, worked on my technique, and it's changing. It will take some time."
'Can Do Better'
"A lot of people had this question – whether I would be able to throw 90m or not – since I had not done it despite competing since 2018. I had broken 88–89m before but not 90m. But finally, not just for me, but at least for Indians, the burden has reduced. I feel I can do even better," Neeraj added.
After coming close to breaching the 90m mark three times in 2024, Neeraj finally achieved the much-desired feat. He threw 89.45m and 89.34m during the Lausanne Diamond League final and the Olympic qualification event, respectively. His second-best effort, 89.49m, also came in Lausanne, securing him a second-place finish at the Diamond League meet.
Neeraj, however, missed the Doha Diamond League title as Julian Weber stole the show, throwing his first-ever 90m-plus throw - a 91.06m - off his last throw of the competition.
"It is a bit of a bittersweet result. I am very happy to finally cross the 90m mark, but finishing second – that’s happened to me before, like in Turku and Stockholm, where I threw 89.94m and still placed second. Even today, I broke the national record but ended up second. Still, I am really happy for Julian Weber. He threw 91m, and it was the first time both of us broke 90m. We have been chasing this for years, so it feels great to finally achieve it," Neeraj said.
