It took nearly four years for the ace javelin thrower to crack the 90m mark and join the elite club at the Doha Diamond League

Navneet Singh
Back in 2016, Neeraj Chopra announced his arrival on the global stage in style by winning the World U20 Championships title in Poland with a throw of 86.48m. It was a world junior record (U20).
Nine years later, on May 16, the 27-year-old two-time Olympic and World medallist joined the 90m club. That’s how difficult it is to add distance in javelin. Chopra has persevered all these years, putting in a lot of hard work in training, making small adjustments to his technique, and strengthening his core and muscles. For the record, the weight of the javelin for men is 800g, while for women’s group, it is 600g.
The performance graph of Chopra since 2022 shows that he was very close to breaking the 90m barrier. He was regularly producing distances of 87m–89m in major competitions, which speaks volumes about his mental and physical strength. On at least four occasions, he recorded throws of over 89m, yet the elite 90m club eluded him.
However, it finally happened this year at the 2025 Doha Diamond League, where he finished second with a throw of 90.23m. Germany’s Julian Weber topped the competition with a throw of 91.06m, also breaching the 90m mark for the first time.
The prolific Indian javelin thrower has been the most consistent since winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. To put things in perspective, it still took four long years for Chopra to add a few centimetres to his throw to cross the 90m mark—proving that javelin is a highly technical event. Apart from hard work, the athlete must also be mentally prepared to enter a higher performance zone.
At the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League, Chopra’s best throw was 89.94m. At the Lausanne Diamond League last year, he recorded a throw of 89.49m.
An improvement of even a small margin at the highest level also depends on mental well-being. “Winning a medal is more important than thinking about breaking the 90m barrier,” Chopra had said after winning silver at the 2022 Worlds in Oregon.
“A time will come. I will be able to cross the 90m barrier,” he had said after winning gold at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chopra’s silver-winning throw was 89.45m, while he hurled the javelin 89.34m in the qualification round. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem crossed the 90m mark (92.97m) and won gold.
After the 2024 Paris Olympics, he opted to change his coaching staff. Chopra’s association with long-time German bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz came to an end, and he signed with Czech legend Jan Železný. The partnership with Železný has enabled the ace javelin thrower to improve his distance in the first major competition of the 2025 season. His main goal, though, is to defend his title at the 2025 World Championships in Japan, scheduled to be held from September 13 to 21.

Neeraj Chopra’s best throws:

90.23m: 2025 Doha Diamond League

89.94m: 2022 Stockholm Diamond League

89.49m: 2024 Lausanne Diamond League

89.45m: 2024 Paris Olympic Games (Final).

89.34m: 2024 Paris Olympic Games (qualification)