Friday witnessed the first Indian Olympic gold medallist in track and field, Neeraj Chopra secure his second Doha Diamond League title at the Qatar Sports Club. The javelin thrower mastered a gold world record of 88.67m defeating champions Anderson Peters and Jakub Vadlejch.
A world-leading record
Although trespassing the 90m mark target seemed elusive, Neeraj Chopra’s 88.67m throw surpassed the 2022 Diamond League gold medallist Anderson Peters’s throw of 85.88m.
Chopra’s first attempt of 88.67m upheld his record which was soon followed with a second and third attempt that measured 86.04m and 85.47m.
The 25-year-old’s fourth attempt stumbled with a foul of 85.47 while he managed to draw the match with 84.37m and 86.52m throws.
Post League reviews
With a back-to-back streak record of outpacing the 88m log, Chopra wished to breach the 90m chronicle that was previously triumphed by opponents Vadlejch and Peters at the Doha grounds. Chopra exclaimed how his fourth attempt was strained by his groin injury and his recovery is crucial to get him back on track.
Career Timeline
2010: Won his first bronze medal under coach and ex-javelin thrower Jaiveer Choudhary
2012: Made his first record throw of 68.40 m at the National Junior Athletics Championship in Lucknow
2014: Made his first international debut by bagging his first-ever silver medal with a throw of over 70m at the Youth Olympics, Bangkok
2015: Broke the junior category world record with a throw that ranged 81.04m at the All India Inter-University Athletics meet
2016: Started training under Australian coach Gary Calvert and procured gold medal at the IAAF World U20 Championship in Poland with a record throw of 86.48m
2017: Owing to this groin injury that finished his throw attempts at 83.39 ranking him 7th at the Zurich Diamond League
2018: Became the first-ever Indian Commonwealth Javelin round winner with a record that registered 86.47m
2018: Catalogued his national record of 87.43m securing his first Doha Diamond League title
2021: Under the guidance of coach Uwe Hohn, Chopra became the first ever Indian Olympic gold medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a throw that ranged 87.58m in the second attempt
2022: Inscribed yet another silver medal national record with a throw of 89.94m at the Diamond League in Stockholm
2022: Finished first with his personal best at the Lausanne Diamond League with a throw of 89.09m and qualified as the first Indian javelin thrower to record 88.44m at the Diamond League in Zurich
