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Neeraj Chopra

About Neeraj Chopra

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Who is Neeraj Chopra?

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who made history on August 7, 2021 by winning India's first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics, was born on December 24, 1997 to a family of farmers from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana. He graduated from Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Chandigarh.
 
His mother Saroj Devi is a housewife and father Satish Kumar is a farmer. Since he was overweight, Chopra was always persuaded by his family to take up sports. Later, he decided to try his luck at javelin throw and started training at the Shivaji Stadium in Panipat.

After training for a year, the 23-year-old was admitted to the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula where his coach Naseem Ahmad made him train in the long-distance running along with the javelin throw.
 

Neeraj Chopra's achievements

By the end of 2012, Neeraj Chopra became the U-16 national champion. In 2014, he won the first-ever international medal (silver) in the Youth Olympics Qualification in Bangkok. In 2015, he received his first medal in a national senior championship during the Inter-State event in Chennai with a throw of 77.33 metres.
 
A few months later, he won gold in the National Open Championships in Kolkata. The year 2016 was a breakthrough for Neeraj Chopra as he bagged a gold medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati with a throw of 82.23m.
 
He further improved his skills under the guidance of Uwe Hohn, Gary Calvert, and Werner Daniels.
 
Impressed with his performance at several national and international tournaments, the Indian Army decided to make him a Junior Commission Officer in 2017. He was offered a direct appointment as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Rajputana Rifles with the rank of 'Naib Subedar'.
 
After joining the Army, Chopra got selected for training at the 'Mission Olympics Wing' as well as at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. The Mission Olympics Wing is an initiative by the Indian Army to identify and train promising sportspersons in 11 disciplines for various national and international competitions.
 
In 2018, he won the gold medal in Commonwealth Games with a season-best effort of 86.47 metres and threw his personal best of 87.43m at the Diamond League in Doha in the same year. On August 27, Neeraj clinched gold at the Asian Games with a throw of 88.06 metres. The athlete was out of action for eight months in 2019 due to an elbow injury.

 

Tokyo Olympics 2021

On August 7, 2021, Neeraj Chopra emerged as India's first track-and-field Olympic gold-medallist. He gave his best throw of 87.58m in his second attempt to clinch the gold medal for India at Tokyo Olympic Games. He is now the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win a gold medal in individual events.
 
He was qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the ACNE League. He breached the Olympic qualification mark of 85m in his fourth attempt and secured the top place at the international event.
 
He threw the spear to 81.76m in the beginning and improved after every throw. He could manage a throw of 82m in his second attempt and 82.57 in the third.

 

Awards won by neeraj chopra

In 2018, Neeraj Chopra was conferred with the Arjuna Award and Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) in 2020 for his excellence in sports.

Latest Updates on Neeraj Chopra

'In this new year, I hope I will put an end to this question," Chopra told reporters in a video interaction from England where he's doing off-season training'

Updated On: 07 Jan 2023 | 6:01 PM IST

At least six top Indian athletes were caught for using banned drugs and the run-up to the Commonwealth Games was marred by a series of positive dope cases

Updated On: 31 Dec 2022 | 5:35 PM IST

2022 was about one sporting great finally realising his dream and another bowing out after having done it all

Updated On: 30 Dec 2022 | 12:38 AM IST

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has dislodged the iconic Usain Bolt as the "most visible" athlete in the world after winning a historic gold medal in the Tokyo Games, claimed a World Athletics study

Updated On: 16 Dec 2022 | 7:57 PM IST

Star javelin thrower Neeraj, along with coach Klaus Bartonietz and physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha, would be training at Loughborough for 63 days and are set to leave for the UK later this week

Updated On: 19 Nov 2022 | 6:37 PM IST

Neeraj Chopra will not participate in the upcoming 36th National Games in Gujarat as he wants to rest and recover from the exertions of the season and prepare for mega events in 2023

Updated On: 09 Sep 2022 | 5:28 PM IST

It was Chopra's third appearance in the Diamond League Finals. He had finished seventh and fourth respectively in 2017 and 2018

Updated On: 09 Sep 2022 | 1:30 AM IST

Indian athletes medal-winning streak is prompting young people to train for competitive events

Updated On: 03 Sep 2022 | 11:36 AM IST

National Sports Day is celebrated globally to honour the sportspersons, traditional sports, sportsmanship and national sports teams. Read this article to know more about the day

Updated On: 29 Aug 2022 | 11:34 AM IST

Neeraj has now qualified for the Diamond League final on September 7-8 in Zurich, Switzerland, as well as the 2023 World Championships, which has a qualification mark of 85.20m

Updated On: 27 Aug 2022 | 5:12 PM IST

Neeraj Chopra finished first at the Lausanne Diamond League, becoming the first Indian to clinch the top spot in a Diamond League meet, after registering an 89.08m throw in his first attempt

Updated On: 27 Aug 2022 | 11:10 AM IST

Commonwealth Games 2022, India's performance, highlights, Opening, and Closing ceremony, where can you watch it? When is the next CWG event? What is the closing ceremony lineup?

Updated On: 08 Aug 2022 | 11:00 PM IST

Commonwealth Games Day 5 Highlights: India won a total of four medals on the 5th day with a historic first gold in Lawn Bowls. It won Men's TT final but lost in Badminton Mixed Team. Vikas won silver

Updated On: 03 Aug 2022 | 2:26 AM IST

He said, "Friends, be it the classroom or the playground, today our youth, in every field, are making the country proud. This month, PV Sindhu has won her first title of the Singapore Open."

Updated On: 31 Jul 2022 | 7:47 PM IST

After being ruled out of the upcoming Commonwealth Games, star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra expressed disappointment about not being able to represent the country at Birmingham

Updated On: 27 Jul 2022 | 1:58 PM IST

Chopra, who recently won a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships was India's top gold medal contenders

Updated On: 26 Jul 2022 | 12:54 PM IST

Neeraj Chopra, who clinched the historic silver medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, is elated from his performance, said that the challenging final was a good learning experience for him

Updated On: 24 Jul 2022 | 11:05 PM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lavished praise on Neeraj Chopra after he clinched the silver medal in the men's javelin throw final at the prestigious World Athletics Championships in Eugene

Updated On: 24 Jul 2022 | 10:32 AM IST

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra scripted yet another history as he became only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to win a medal in the World Championships

Updated On: 24 Jul 2022 | 4:58 PM IST

The stars are shining for the champion athlete as he continues to bag one medal after the other in international competitions and shattering national records with impunity

Updated On: 23 Jul 2022 | 2:26 PM IST