India has always been home to champions. It doesn’t matter which sport, India never fails to show its excellence. But the sad part is the way Indian cricketers get the spotlight, other athletes don’t. Today we are going to introduce Neeraj Chopra.
Neeraj made a country of 1.5 billion proud by securing India’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in track and field. Neeraj got the spotlight for his skills back in 2016. He single-handedly made India proud in international events with his javelin skills.
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Chopra hurled the spear to 86.48m to set a new junior world record and won the gold medal. Despite being a junior athlete, that stunning throw in Poland put Neeraj Chopra at No.11 in the senior rankings.
1. A son of a farmer from Haryana
Neeraj Chopra hails from the village of Khandra, Panipat, the son of a farmer who made history. He was born on 24 December 1997, Neeraj Chopra age is 25 as of 2023.
2. Neeraj Chopra father is Satish Kumar Chopra. Neeraj father persuaded him to take up javelin
His family is largely involved in agriculture and he has two sisters.
3. Neeraj did his schooling at BVN Public School and graduated from DAV College, Chandigarh
4. In the village where he grew up, people didn’t really know anything about javelin, but after succeeding he motivated a lot of youngsters to follow his path
5. Chopra shocked everyone with his performance at the South Asian Games
The Indian Army offered him a direct appointment as a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) with the rank of Naib Subedar in the Rajputana Rifles. He joined the army under sports quota after accepting the offer.
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6. During his childhood days Neeraj had to face teasing due to his obesity
For his obesity, his father enrolled him in a gymnasium at Madlauda. He later joined a gym in Panipat.
7. This is how he got to know about Javelin
He saw some javelin throwers while playing at Shivaji Stadium in Panipat and began participating himself.
8. Javelin thrower Akshay Choudhary became Chopra’s first coach at the Panipat Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre
9. Chopra was just 13-year-old when he was admitted to the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula
After training for a year under Choudhary and winning some medals he joined the sports complex in Panchkula for further training.
10. In 2012, at the National Junior Athletics Championships in Lucknow, Neeraj Chopra won gold with a new national record throw of 68.40 metres
In Tau Devi, he trained under coach Naseem Ahmad.
11. In 2016, he left Panchkula to train at Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala
12. After participating in several International Games and winning medals, he left the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports to train at the Sports Authority of India centre in Bangalore
13. Neeraj became the first Indian athlete to achieve a world record while setting a new national record
Neeraj won gold with a throw of 82.23 meters at the 2016 South Asian Games and also in the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland setting a world junior record of 86.48 m.
14. Chopra won India’s first gold medal in the Men’s javelin throw at the 2018 Asian Games
He threw a distance of 88.06 m and bettered his own National record. He also participated in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where he won gold and set a junior world record of 86.48m.
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15. Neeraj was awarded the Arjuna Award in September 2018
#PresidentKovind confers Arjuna Award 2018 upon Shri @Neeraj_chopra1 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Athletics
•Gold medal in Javelin Throw in Asian Games 2018
•Gold medal in Javelin Throw in CWG 2018
•Gold medal in Asian Athletic Championship 2017 pic.twitter.com/MsfWJeMUG0— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 25, 2018
16. Neeraj Chopra qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after recovering from his injury and 16 month break
17. Chopra won the gold medal in the final of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 becoming the first Indian Olympian to win a gold medal in athletics and the first post-independence Indian Olympic medalist in athletics
On 7 August with a throw of 87.58 m in his second attempt.
Neeraj Chopra. Olympic Gold Medallist. 😎
That’s it. That’s the tweet. #Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/T8eMfjgVVB
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 7, 2021
18. After this, Neeraj Chopra became the second-ranked athlete in the men’s javelin throw, internationally
19. After his amazing throw at the Olympics, he went on to excel in several tournaments while breaking his own personal records
20. Neeraj Chopra serves as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army
Neeraj serves as a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army. He joined the army and now successfully supports his entire family financially without facing any hurdles.
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General MM Naravane #COAS and All Ranks of #IndianArmy congratulate Subedar Neeraj Chopra on winning Nation’s first ever #GoldMedal in #Javelin in Olympics with a throw of 87.58 meters at #TokyoOlympics.#MissionOlympics#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/HUotK29P4K
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) August 7, 2021
21. Neeraj became the first Indian to qualify for the 2023 World Championships
22. He won the gold medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships with a throw of 88.17m In August 2023
23. Neeraj won the second gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games with a season-best throw of 88.88m in October 2023
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