Today marks the start of the Diamond League trials in Doha, Qatar, and it is in this environment that he intends to make the qualitative leap, as he explained on Thursday. "I really want to break this barrier," Chopra said t a press conference held in Doha, Qatar, the day before the Diamond League begins.

Chopra is the 26-year-old son of farmers from the northern state of Haryana. He added a second gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year to his Olympic and world titles.

He is aiming to join the select club of throwers who have broken the 90-metre barrier. Although still a long way off Jan Zelezny's world record of 98.48 metres set in 1996, the significance of breaking the barrier would place him among the elite and world-class throwers.

Chopra has been dogged by questions about this possibility ever since he threw 88.06 metres at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. This is especially true given the elbow surgery that has forced him to miss the 2019 season. "I am stuck between 88 and 90 metres," said Chopra.

Chopra surpassed himself in 2022 with a personal best of 89.94 metres. However, he insists that he wants to break the 90-metre barrier, something that eluded him on this day. "We were not lucky because there was too much headwind. Maybe tomorrow will be better," he said.

He left India to train and will travel to South Africa, Turkey and Europe later in the year to prepare for the event that motivates him. The Paris Olympics, which begin on 26 July. "It's good for my profile to train in India," said Chopra. "However, now it's the Olympic year... My desire is more training."

He doesn't rule out any goals, but is aware of the importance of competing in Paris in 2024. "India is a really big country and everyone always wants gold. But it's really hard at the Olympics because all the best athletes in the world will be there," he added.

His progress has been significant, the injury slowed him down a bit, but now he is ready to believe in success again. Chopra knows what he wants, "But my focus is to stay healthy and just concentrate on my technique and if I stay healthy, everything will be fine.

Like all his compatriots in India, he started out playing cricket. But he soon realised that his talents lay elsewhere. And at a very young age, he demonstrated his ability to throw the javelin.

Athletic success came quickly for young Chopra: in 2012 he was the national junior champion (under 16), and in 2013 he won a silver medal at the national junior championships, the same year he also participated in the junior world championships in Donetsk. In 2014 he broke national records: the junior mark with a throw of 76.50m and the youth mark with a record 81.04m on 31 December 2015.

In 2016, at the age of 19, he won the gold medal at the South Asian Games in India with a throw of 82.23 metres, which was also a national record. It remained the best mark in the U20 category that year. From there, he moved closer to the legendary 90-metre mark, which he now wants to break, why not in Paris in 2024?