May 15th, 2023: Which new record? Read to know more about his latest win.
With a record-breaking throw of 88.67 metres to win the Diamond League competition in Doha, Neeraj Chopra got the season off to an impressive start although at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium, he still fell short of reaching the magical 90-meter milestone.
Neeraj will be encouraged by his triumph in a competitive field that included the world champion Anderson Peters and the Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who won the silver medal at the Olympics in Tokyo.
Neeraj would have wagered on breaking the 90-meter barrier given the manner in which he started off with 88.67m. Chopra entered the contest following Peters' first throw of 85.88 metres, which placed the opponent under pressure right away. The scores for Chopra's sets were 88.67m, 86.04m, 85.47, foul, 84.37m, and 86.52m. With throws of 88.63 metres and 88.47 metres, Valdejch, who leads the season in distance before Neeraj, kept the competition on the line and came in second. Peters finished third with an effort of 85.88 metres.
Neeraj had radiated confidence entering into the Doha tournament about breaking the 90-meter barrier. He crossed the 89-meter mark in three tournaments last year, but he narrowly missed the mark each time. It appeared as though he would reach the goal when he set a personal record of 89.94 metres in Stockholm. The 25-year-old Chopra will enter the World Championships (August) and Asian Games (September) with confidence after winning his season opener against a strong field.
Chopra hoped he would reach the 90-meter barrier in Doha on the day of his season-opening competition. In Doha last year, Peters and Vadlejch crossed the 90-meter mark. He did add that he will take care to avoid hurting himself. His extraordinary consistency set him apart from the competition. He routinely exceeded 88 metres in five of the six tournaments.
