Doha Diamond League 2025: Friday night at Qatar Sports Club, Doha was a historic one for Neeraj Chopra as well as for the Indian fans as he became the first Indian Javelin thrower to cross the 90m mark. This was his personal best throw of 90.23m. However he finished second in the competition whereas Julian Weber topped with 91.06m throw.
Julian Weber of Germany has also crossed this 90m mark for the first time in his career. For both of them, 90m mark had been elusive and they had been chasing it together for the past few years. Neeraj started with a throw of 88.44m in his first attempt and scaled his personal best and national record of 90.23m in the third attempt.
Neeraj was leading the chart until 5th and final attempt when Weber hurled a record breaking throw of 91.06m which helped him to top the table. Paris Olympics Bronze medalist Anderson Peters of Grenada finished third with 84.65m. Another Indian Kishor Jena stood 8th with a throw of 78.60m. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Neeraj Chopra on his historic achievement.
A spectacular feat! Congratulations to Neeraj Chopra for breaching the 90 m mark at Doha Diamond League 2025 and achieving his personal best throw. This is the outcome of his relentless dedication, discipline and passion. India is elated and proud. @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/n33Zw4ZfIt
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 17, 2025
Chopra became the third Asian and 25th athlete overall to achieve 90m plus throw- a prestigious club led by his current coach, Czech legend Jan Zelezny. After parting ways with Klaus Bartonietz last year, Neeraj Chopra has been training under Jan Železný — widely regarded as the greatest javelin thrower of the modern era. The legendary Czech holds the javelin world record with a throw of 98.48m, set in 1996. In fact, Zelezny boasts five of the top 10 throws recorded in men’s javelin, in its current format.
“It is a little bit bittersweet result,” Neeraj said. “I am very happy for the 90m, but this second place – it actually happened to me also when I competed in Turku and in Stockholm. I threw 89.94 and I was always second. And also here. I broke the national record and got second.”
“I feel very good that Jan Zelezny is my coach now,” Neeraj said. “We still work on few points and still learning some things. Normally, he does not go to the Diamond Leagues but he came with me because he told me that today is the day to achieve 90m.”
Neeraj is the 25th man in history to surpass the 90m mark in the javelin throw and his effort is the third-best by an Asian after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (92.97m) and Chinese Taipei’s Chao-Tsun Cheng (91.36m).
After the match Weber said, “The crowd was amazing and helped me throw beyond 90 metres for the first time. It was also the winning throw in the last round, so it came out really perfect. I was also really happy for Neeraj because he’s been fighting for that throw over 90m for some time and it was really special to achieve it tonight. The back wind here in Doha is great for us javelin throwers, if you get the travel right and throw a little higher, it just flies great. It’s also warm, make you feel relaxed and easy, it all comes into place.”
This was Neeraj Chopra’s second competitive outing of the 2025 athletics season following the Potch Invitational Meet in South Africa, back in April. The Indian ace had won the event in Potchefstroom with a modest 84.52m throw.
From Satbir Singh’s 79.68m national record in 1998 to Neeraj Chopra’s 90.23m national record in 2025, Indian Javelin has come a long way.
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