Olympic champion continues winning ways as the Diamond League season gets underway

By Scott Bush, DyeStat Editor

Before Friday, only two men had broken the magical 93 meter barrier in the javelin. All-time great Jan Železný of the former Czech Republic owns the six furthest throws in history, his best of 98.48m launched in 1996. Then, in 1999, Finland's Aki Parviainen became the second man to break the barrier with a toss of 93.09m.

The duo grew to a trio at the Doha Diamond League on Friday, as reigning Olympic champion Thomas Röhler of Germany threw a massive strike of 93.90m on his fourth attempt of the evening to work his way into the record books. Prior to this season, the 25-year old ranked outside of the top ten with a personal best of 91.28m. 

There was no indication early on Friday that Röhler would throw what he did. His first toss of 82.94m was merely a warm-up. He showed a bit more pop in his second and third throw of 85.52m and 88.12m, but was still behind countryman Johannes Vetter, who led the way with a third throw of 89.68m.

On his fourth attempt, Röhler lined up, found his rhythm from the first step and came up right to the line as he launched the javelin. Immediately he knew he hit a near perfect throw and when the devince his the grass, the crowd errupted, with the mark 93.90m coming across the board. 

So ecstatic with his throw, Röhler passed on his final two throws, knowing full well no one would even come close to mark on the day. 

Top Five All-Time Performers - Men's Javelin

98.48 - Jan Železný (Czech Republic)
93.90 - Thomas Röhler (Germany)
93.09 - Aki Parviainen (Finland)
92.72 - Julius Yego (Kenya)
92.61 - Sergey Makarov (Russia)