Less than a metre: Neeraj Chopra loses out to Julian Weber in record-breaking close finish at Doha

Neeraj Chopra finally breached the elusive 90m mark with a 90.23m throw, but finished second behind Julian Weber of Germany in a dramatic men's javelin contest at the Doha leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meeting series on Friday.

Weber turned the tables and took the top spot with his final throw, measuring 91.06m. 

The 27-year-old Indian double Olympic medallist sent his spear to a distance of 90.23m, in his third attempt to join a list of javelin throwers, led by his current coach Jan Zelezny of Czechia, who had recorded 90m-plus efforts.

He became the third Asian—and 25th overall—to achieve this feat.

Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem (92.97m) of Pakistan and Chao-Tsun Cheng (91.36m) of Chinese Taipei are the two other Asians to have breached the coveted mark. 

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