Neeraj Chopra has started his 2025 season with a bang, finishing second in the Doha Diamond League with a best throw of 90.23m. Significantly, it's the first time Neeraj has crossed the 90m mark.
The distance, though, was not enough as another first-time entrant into the 90m club, Julian Weber taking it with his last throw of the night, a huge 91.06m. It was a stunning series of throws from Weber who improved progressively through the night, hitting 89.06m with his third throw, 89.84m with his fifth, before breaching the 90m mark in the sixth.
Meanwhile, in his first competition under the tutelage of Jan Zelezny, the greatest javelin thrower of all time, Neeraj finally hit the 90m mark that Zelezny had previously made his very own.
On Friday night, Neeraj, the first thrower on the night, started with a big one: 88.44m that kept him in the lead through the opening two rounds. He fouled on his second attempt before smashing the 90m barrier he had been 6cm away from with panache and his trademark roar. The relief on his face as the screen displayed his distance was visible, and that was followed by a lovely sight - Neeraj being greeted with hugs and congratulations from his competitors for finally clearing the 90m mark, Weber leading the line.
That was then reciprocated at the end as everyone congratulated Weber for the same feat, as much as for the win itself.
Former world champion Anderson Peters took third place with a throw of 85.64m, a mark he hit on his very first attempt and didn't really get close to in the subsequent five.
The other Indian in the field, Kishore Jena finished eighth with a season's best of 78.60m. He remains far from the kind of form that had seen him win silver in the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
Meanwhile, Parul Chaudhary showed just how good she is as she finished sixth in the women's 3000m steeplechase, a good result that was made even better by the fact that she beat her own national record. She finished the race with a time of 9:13.39, shaving off nearly two seconds from her old national record of 9:15.31 which she set at the 2023 World Championships.
You can relive all the action right here on our live blog: