The tailwind tale behind Chopra and Weber's 90m Doha success
Doha
On Friday night, the javelin throw event at the Jetour Doha Diamond League meeting threw up amazing action as India's Neeraj Chopra, the reigning world champion, and Germany's Julian Weber breached the 90m mark and became the two latest athletes to join the exclusive 90m club.
While Chopra threw his personal best of 90.23m, Weber reached his record distance of 91.06. While two-time world champion Anderson Peters finished third with 85.64m.
Their success, however, wasn't just down to raw talent or preparation. A quiet but critical change in the javelin runway direction — made at Chopra's personal request — might have played a decisive role.
A day prior to the meet, Qatar Athletics Federation President Mohammed Issa Al Fadala had revealed that this year's change in field setting for the javelin throw was altered specifically for Chopra.
'We have actually changed the javelin throw (area in the field). Usually it is from the southern end of the stadium towards north. Now, we have made it from north to south for him. He wanted this, and so we have obliged,' said Al Fadala.
'So, we agreed on this and we technically also changed many things inside the stadium for him. '
'I usually meet Neeraj (when he trains) in South Africa and we sit at a table every year. This time he promised me, he would come to Doha because he feels at home here. So, really this was big for us and I knew he was focused on Doha to make a huge throw.
'I know the Indian community and others come and support him. He also visits schools here and the students, the kids, they love to take some photos with him. Neeraj is a new generation sports star. This is also a special year for India because there are four athletes from India who participated in the Doha meeting,' Al Fadala added.
The change in direction meant that athletes would run from the northern end of the stadium carrying sea-breeze over them. This was underlined by Weber, who while speaking after the event said there was good backwind speed.
'The backwind here in Doha is great for us javelin throwers, if you make the traveling right and throw a little higher, it just flies great. It's also warm, make you feel relaxed and easy, it all comes into place, said Weber.
It was the Olympic gold medallist and reigning world champion Chopra who first set the marker making an Indian record throw of 90.23m on his third attempt and seemed set to end up with the world lead in the Diamond League series but Weber on his sixth and final attempt reached 91.06m.
It was a first into the 90m club by both men, who had thrown beyond 89 metres on several occasions in recent years, with their personal bests (PBs) – 89.94m for Chopra and 89.54m for Weber – dating back to 2022. Tonight in the Qatari capital, though, they finally bettered the hallowed barrier, becoming the 25th and 26th men to throw beyond 90 metres. While two-time world champion Anderson Peters finished third with 85.64m.
Chopra was overcome with mixed feelings. 'It is a little bit bittersweet result. I am very happy for the 90m, but this second place - it actually happened to me also when I competed in Turku (Finland) and in Stockholm (Sweden). I threw 89.94 and I was always second. And also here. I broke the national record and got second today. But I am very happy also for Julian Weber. He threw 91 so we both broke 90m for the first time today. We have been tying this for so many years, so finally, we managed to get it,' he said.
The season-opener for Chopra provides him with huge motivation ahead. 'It was just a first competition of the year so I am confident that at the next competitions, I will throw far. I was very confident today and I expected Julian to get a massive throw as he was very consistent with his attempts. I told him that today is the day when we both can break the 90m mark. It is like a boost for us and we will go far also next time,' said Chopra indicating to a healthy rivalry between the two.
Chopra also credited his new coach for the 90m success. 'I feel very good that Jan Zelezny is my coach now and we worked very hard in South Africa. We still work on few points and still learning some things. Normally, he does not go to the Diamond Leagues but he came with me because he told me that today is the day to achieve 90m,' he said.
It was just the seventh time in history that two men have thrown beyond 90 metres in the same javelin competition. Weber now moves to 17th on the world all-time list while Chopra sits at 24th.
The record for the longest javelin throw in Doha, usually termed as the 'monster' throw, is held by Germany's Thomas Rohler who threw a whopping 93.90m on May 5, 2017.
The Jetour Doha Meeting was the third meeting of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League. The series – which started in Xiamen on 26 April – comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and concludes with a single final across two days in Zurich (27-28 August).
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