India, May 17 -- At long last. On a warm Friday evening in Doha, his long locks held back by the trademark headband, world champion Neeraj Chopra broke the barrier that had been weighing him down for a long time, logging a memorable 90.23m throw to break his own national record and enter an elite club of spearmen.

It didn't matter that Germany's Julian Weber stole the top prize with his last throw (91.06m), for the night was truly about an exceptional athlete silencing lingering demons in his head. Grenada's Anderson Peters was third with a throw of 85.64m.

Having flirted with the elusive distance on a bunch of occasions, the two-time Olympic medallist threw the monkey off his back on his third attempt. As the spear tore through the Doh...