Neeraj Chopra (born 24 December 1997) is an Indian track and field athlete in Javelin throw and an Indian Army Junior commissioned officer. He is the first track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for India, Chopra won the gold medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a throw of 87.58m in his second attempt on 7 August 2021. Chopra is also the second Olympic athletics medal list for India after Norman Pritchard, who won two silver medals in the 1900 Paris Summer Olympics.
In the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships, Chopra achieved a world under-20 record of 86.48 m. He was also the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony for India at the 2018 Asian Games, which marked his first Asian Games appearance. He scored gold-medal-winning throws at the 2018 Asian Games (88.07 m)and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Chopra won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics with a throw of 87.58m. He is one of only two Indians to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics (alongside AbhinavBindra), as well as the youngest-ever Indian gold medalist in an individual event and the only one to have won gold in his Olympic debut.
Early life
Chopra was born in Chandra village, Panipat district, Haryana. At the age of 12, Chopra was obese, weighing 90 kilos, causing local children to tease him about his appearance, saying he resembled the popular image of a sarpanch (village leader). Concerned about his son’s weight, Chopra’s father enrolled him in a gymnasium at Madlauda, which Chopra had to cycle to and from 24 kilometers each day. After informing his parents of his dislike for the Madlauda gym where he was its youngest member, Chopra was enrolled in a gym at Panipat. While there, he also frequented the nearby Panipat Sports Authority of India center, where javelin thrower Jaiveer Choudhary recognized Chopra’s early talent. Observing his ability to achieve a 40-meter throw without training and further impressed by Chopra’s drive, Choudhary began coaching him.
Career
Early career
Chopra receiving the Arjuna Award from Ram NathKovind, President of India, in 2018.
After training under his first coach Jaiveer for a year, Chopra was admitted to the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, four hours from his home, which was then one of only two facilities in the state of Haryana with a synthetic runway. At Panchkula, he began training under coachNaseem Ahmad, who made him train in long-distance running along with the javelin throw. Chopra first threw at a maximum of 55 meters. He soon increased his range and won the 2012 junior nationals in Lucknow by achieving a new national record throw of 68.40 meters. The next year, he entered his first international competition, the World Youth Championships in Ukraine. He won his first international medal in 2014, a silver at the Youth Olympics Qualification in Bangkok. He achieved his first throw of over 70 meters at the 2014 senior nationals, following this up with a world record throw in the junior category of 81.04 meters in the 2015 All India Inter-University Athletics Meet; this was his first throw of over 80 meters. Chopra received a callback for the national-level training camp in 2015, leaving Panchkula in early 2016.
Chopra won a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games with a throw of 84.23 m, where he equaled the Indian national record. He won a gold medal in the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and set a world junior record. Despite these performances, he failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics as the cut-off date was 11 July.
2016 Junior World Champion & Joining Army
General BipinRawat, Chief of Army Staff, congratulating Chopra, gold medallist in javelin throw, and Gaurav Solanki, gold medallist in boxing, for their performance in the 2018 Commonwealth Games
In 2016, after Chopra set the world under-20 record of 86.48 m at the IAAF World U20 Championships, he was appointed a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army with the rank of NaibSubedar.
2017 to 2020 Championships
Chopra won a gold medal in the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
He won another gold medal in the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships with a throw of 85.23 meters. In the men’s javelin throw at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he registered a season-best effort of 86.47 meters, becoming one of the few Indian athletes to win a gold medal on their Commonwealth Games debut, and also becoming the first Indian to win the javelin throw at the Games. In May 2018, he again broke the national record at the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 87.43 meters.
In August 2018, Chopra made his debut appearance at the Asian Games representing India at the 2018 Asian Games and was also the flag-bearer for the Indian contingent during the 2018 Asian Games Parade of Nations. On 27 August 2018, Neeraj threw a distance of 88.06 m to win gold in the Men’s javelin throw at the 2018 Asian Games and set a new Indian national record, bettering his previous record. It was also India’s first gold medal in the javelin throw at the Asian Games. Chopra was the only track and field athlete that year to be recommended by the AFI for the country’s highest sports award, the KhelRatna but was awarded the Arjuna Award in September 2018.
Having suffered an elbow injury, Chopra underwent surgery in Mumbai on 2 May 2019, the day after the qualifying competitions for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had begun. After 16 months of recuperation, including practicing meditation and rehabilitative training at Patiala and the IIS Vijayanagar, Chopra traveled to South Africa in November 2019 for training under German biomechanics expert Klaus Bartoneitz. Previously, he had been coached by Gary Calvert, Werner Daniels, and UweHohn. In South Africa, he returned to international competition with a winning throw of 87.86 meters in the ACNW League Meeting in Potchefstroom, which qualified him for Tokyo.
On 5 March 2021, Chopra again broke his national record with a new throw of 88.07m, establishing him in a world-leading position. He opened his international season of 2021 with a throw of 83.18 meters that earned him a gold medal at an event in Lisbon, Portugal.
2020 Tokyo Olympics
Chopra made his debut appearance at the Olympics representing India at the 2020 Summer Olympics. On 4 August 2021, he qualified for the final in the men’s javelin throw with a throw of 86.65 meters. He won the gold medal in the event on 7th August 2021 with a throw of 87.58m, becoming the first Indian Olympian to win a gold medal in athletics, and the first post-independence Indian Olympic medalist in athletics. He also became only the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal after Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the men’s 10 m air rifle in the 2008 Summer Olympics on 11 August 2008. Chopra dedicated his win to sprinter Milkha Singh.
