Germany’s Julian Weber launched a stunning final round throw of 91.06m to win the men’s javelin at the Doha Diamond League on Friday (16).
The Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships gold medallist smashed his near three-year-old personal best of 89.54m with a statement victory ahead of India’s Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and current world champion who has earlier landed a superb third round 90.23m.
It was the first time both athletes had exceeded 90 metres, making them only the 25th and 26th men to breach the magical mark in the history of the event.
Weber, who also won silver at Roma 2024, produced a superb series of valid throws, opening with a solid 83.82m, then landing his spear at 85.57m, 89.06m, 88.05m and a short lived new personal best of 89.84m before his monumental winning effort. Twice world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada was third with 85.64m.
Caudery back on top in pole vault
There was also an encouraging outdoor season debut by Great Britain’s Molly Caudery who won the women’s pole vault with a first time clearance at 4.75m. Second place was shared by Italian record holder Roberta Bruni and USA’s Olympic silver medallist Katie Moon with 4.63m.
Italy’s European silver medallist Alessandro Sibilio burst through to win his first ever Diamond League race, taking the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.32. Türkiye’s European U23 champion Ismail Nezir (49.40) and Slovenia’s European finalist Matic Ian Guček (49.49) finished in his wake in second and third.
There was a creditable third in the women’s 100m by Great Britain’s Amy Hunt in a personal best of 11.03 (+2.0m/s) behind Jamaican twins Tia and Tina Clayton who clocked 10.92 and 11.02 respectively.
In a high quality men’s discus competition won by Australia’s Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny with 68.97m, world champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden placed second with 67.06m. Slovenia’s European champion European champion Kristjan Ceh placed third with 66.92m.
The women’s 400m was won by Olympic silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain in 49.83 ahead of Poland’s European champion Natalia Bukowiecka (50.92) and the Netherlands’s European indoor champion Lieke Klaver (51.52).
In the men’s 5000m, Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu was second in 13:17.70, 1.30 adrift of Kenyan victor Reynold Cheruiyot.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics