Neeraj Chopra Misses Gold Despite Breaching 90-Meter Mark – Here's Why

Neeraj's massive throw came during his sixth and final attempt, briefly placing him in the lead.

With this effort, Neeraj becomes only the 25th athlete in the world to cross the elite 90-meter mark in javelin throw.

Source : PTI

India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra delivered a historic performance at the Doha Diamond League 2025 held at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium on May 16. Neeraj became the first Indian ever to breach the 90-meter mark, registering a sensational throw of 90.23 meters - a personal best that fans had long been waiting for.

Despite career-best effort, Neeraj misses Gold

Neeraj's massive throw came during his sixth and final attempt, briefly placing him in the lead. However, in a dramatic turn of events, Germany's Julian Weber produced an incredible throw of 91.06 meters in the last round to clinch the gold, pushing Neeraj to second place.

Top 3 standings:

1. Julian Weber – 91.06m
2. Neeraj Chopra – 90.23m
3. Anderson Peters – 85.64m

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A new chapter in Indian Athletics

With this effort, Neeraj becomes only the 25th athlete in the world to cross the elite 90-meter mark in javelin throw. His previous best was 89.94 meters, achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League. While the gold slipped away, Neeraj's performance marked a major milestone in India's athletics history.

Kishore Jena finishes eighth

Fellow Indian athlete Kishore Jena also competed in the event and finished in eighth place, with a best throw of 78.6 meters.

New Coach, New Heights

This competition was Neeraj's first under his new coach, Jan Zelezny, a former Olympic and world champion. After parting ways with long-time coach Klaus Bartonietz at the end of last season, Neeraj began working with Zelezny - and the immediate results speak volumes. His historic performance in Doha is a promising sign for the season ahead.

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Speaking to Al Jazeera ahead of the competition, Chopra opened up on the pressure of breaking the 90-m mark: “I feel reinvigorated and am in great shape physically. In addition to the physical aspect, Zelezny has also passed on tips that help me deal with the mental part of being an athlete. It helps keep the pressure at bay. I have been training and performing consistently, which forms the basis of achieving the best results on the field. No one can predict what will happen on the day of the competition but I am always looking to go beyond my previous best.”