Neeraj Chopra. 90.23m.
There it was, the 90m throw. On his third attempt of his first proper competition of 2025, Neeraj Chopra finally scaled Mt. 90.
For years now, it had stood over Neeraj -- teasing, frustrating, an arbitrary milestone that was there but not there, reachable yet just out of reach. Over the past four years, Olympic and World Championship golds and silvers have come, but 90m had remained elusive. Neeraj had come within a metre of the mark on five different occasions, once even within six centimeters of it, but it had just stood there, imposing, unyielding. Well, no longer.
The throw itself had looked good from the off -- the run-up was smoother and more relaxed than what we're used to seeing. The release was emphatic, the roar as loud as ever. The trajectory was higher than usual, an intentional tweak, much like the centrality of the landing zone. As he stood there watching his javelin sail through the Doha sky, urging it on, he had looked a touch desperate. When the scoreboard showed 90.23m, his smile shone more with relief than happiness. 'Finally,' it seemed to say. He gave a wry smile as fellow competitors came forward to give him hugs -- they knew better than anyone else what it meant for him.
The irony is the fact that it still wasn't enough to take home the win at the Doha Diamond League. It is part of what makes sport such an intriguing, unpredictable endeavor.
One of the first to hug Neeraj when he hit that 90m throw had been Julian Weber, a good friend who had been going through the same pain, trying and failing time and again to hit that elusive mark. Last year, Weber had commented on an Instagram post from Neeraj celebrating the 2024 season that was, saying "such a great season bro, next year 90m will be easy for us." On his sixth throw, the second-last of the competition, Weber hurled his javelin 91.06m. With his first ever 90m throw, he had beaten Neeraj for just the third time in 17 competitions.
HE CALLED IT!
September 15, 2024 �� May 16, 2025 -- Julian Weber and Neeraj Chopra conquer the 90s at Doha Diamond League, 2025 pic.twitter.com/KAThCppajJ
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) May 16, 2025
"Bittersweet," is how Neeraj described it all after the event. "But you know it's happened with me [before]," he added, referring to the fact that including this one, each of Neeraj's top five throws had seen him finishing second. (On an unrelated note, has it truly sunk in yet that an Indian competing at an elite track and field event calls finishing second "bitter"?)
Neeraj, though, has promised there's much more to come. "I feel much better than the last few years. I've always felt something in my groin, and I could not give my best in the last few years. Now I feel this year, I can throw much further." That confidence in his body holding up had been evident in the smoothness of his running, and throwing, on the night.
Now, in his first event under the tutelage of the greatest javelin thrower of all time, Neeraj has joined his coach Jan Zelezny in the exclusive club that the three-time Olympic champ had made his very own (before Friday, Zelezny had more 90m throws than every other javelin thrower combined). Zelezny had told Neeraj that he'd hit 90m at this meet, and in a rare show of support had come to Doha to watch him do it. "Normally, he doesn't come for Diamond Leagues," Neeraj said. "Even after the 90m throw, he told me, 'You can throw 2-3m more'. [But] it was just the first competition of the year.
"We started working together only in February this year. I am still learning things," said Neeraj. Doha, if ever he wanted it, was clear proof that what he's learning is exactly what he needed.
The first step had been nailing this 90m. As much as hates finishing second, you could sense at the end in Doha that this was the least disappointed Neeraj had ever been for not winning a tournament he's taken part in. He had been decrying the value of a 90m throw for years, telling the world that all that matters is where you finish, not some random milestone, but with Arshad Nadeem nailing two 90s at the biggest stage of them all, serial 90s thrower Anderson Peters rediscovering his form, and the constant threat of those on the edge like Weber crossing over, 90m had slowly started to go from arbitrary number to bare necessity. In that context, it would have been torturing Neeraj that he couldn't get the mark, that if a competitor threw 90+m, any event was as good as done for him.
With that barrier, a mental block as much as a physical distance, out of the way, Neeraj can now focus on pushing himself further and further. The World Championships later this year, where he'll be defending gold, will be his first true test, but he's ready for it and then some. "This is just 90m," he said. "I believe I can throw much further. It's just the beginning."