It's just the beginning: Javelin star Neeraj Chopra on prospects of bettering 90.23m mark

Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, who finally breached the 90m barrier to enter the elite club, said it was just the "beginning" after he came up with a 90.23m effort to finish second at the Doha Diamond League and set a new national record while making an early statement for the season.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

At the Qatar Sports Club, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion began with what was then a world-leading mark of 88.44m. The reigning world champion fouled on his second attempt but followed it up with the monstrous throw to reset the national record.

"It's just the beginning. I'm confident that in the next competitions I will throw more," Neeraj said in the post-event interview.

Germany's Julian Weber snatched the win with a 91.06m throw, also his career's first 90m throw, on his final attempt. "It was a good push for both of us and we'll keep pushing each other to go even further (this season)," Neeraj commented.

Weber had predicted that both he and Neeraj would cross the 90m mark, while congratulating Neeraj for a good 2024 season in a comment on his Instagram post. "I was really happy for him (Neeraj) because he was fighting for that throw over 90m for some time and it was really special to achieve it tonight," Weber said after his win in Doha.