Neeraj Chopra on Friday achieved a feat that he had been chasing for a long time. After winning numerous accolades in his already-sensational career, there was one thing that Neeraj hadn't been able to achieve, the 90m mark, which only the top javelin throw players are able to breach.
For years, Neeraj had come inches close to crossing the 90m mark, however hadn't been able to surpass it. However, all this changed in the Doha Diamond League that was contested on Friday, May 16.
Neeraj Chopra finally breached the 90m mark
The two-time Olympic medallist started strong with a throw of 88.44m. Then, Neeraj would go on to commit a foul on his second attempt before unleashing a record-breaking throw of 90.23m on his third attempt.
With this throw, Neeraj surpassed his previous best of 89.94m that he achieved in the Stockholm Diamond League two years ago and set a new national record. He also became the 25th player in javelin history to cross the 90m mark.
Following Neeraj's record-breaking throw, PM Narendra Modi shared a social media post, congratulating the 27-year-old for his record-breaking throw.
Despite Neeraj's incredible throw, it was Germany's Julian Weber who ended up winning the competition with his sensational throw of 91.06m. The Indian athlete had to eventually settle for second place.
"It is a little bit bittersweet result. 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," Neeraj said, as quoted by Olympics.com
Following the conclusion of the competition, Neeraj stated that he was very happy for Julian, who had also breached the 90m mark for the first time in his career. He further praised the German for being very consistent with his throws.
"I am very happy also for Julian Weber. He threw 91 so we both broke 90m for the first time today. We have been trying this for so many years, so finally, we managed to get it," Neeraj stated.
"It was just the first competition of the year, so I am confident that at the next competitions, I will throw far. I was very confident today, and I expected Julian to get a massive throw as he was very consistent with his attempts. I told him that today is the day when we both can break the 90m mark. It is like a boost for us, and we will go far also next time," Neeraj concluded.