Doha: Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finally breached the 90-metre barrier at the Doha leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meeting on Friday, becoming only the third Asian and 25th athlete overall to do so.

The 27-year-old double Olympic medallist achieved a distance of 90.23 metres in his third attempt, entering the elite club of javelin throwers to have crossed the 90m mark—a list headed by his current coach, Czech legend Jan Zelezny.

Chopra joined Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem (92.97m) and Chinese Taipei’s Chao-Tsun Cheng (91.36m) as the only Asians to have recorded a 90m-plus throw.

His previous personal best was 89.94 metres, registered at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022.

Despite leading until the fifth round, Chopra was eventually overtaken by Germany’s Julian Weber, who threw 91.06 metres to clinch the top spot in the Doha leg. Anderson Peters finished third.