On This Day in 2021: Making of India’s golden man Neeraj Chopra began in Tokyo

Neeraj Chopra won gold medal at Tokyo Olympics with 87.58m javelin throw.

Four years ago, on this day (August 7, 2021), a young man from Haryana rewrote India’s track-and-field history with a javelin soaring through the Tokyo sky. It was on this very day that Neeraj Chopra won India’s first-ever Olympic gold in athletics.

With a stunning throw of 87.58m on his second attempt, the then 23-year-old etched his name in history books, securing India’s second individual Olympic gold medal after shooter Abhinav Bindra who won gold at the Beijing 2008.

That throw saw Neeraj finish ahead of the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely. With his javelin gold, India’s medal tally in Tokyo rose to seven, its highest-ever haul at the time, surpassing the six won at the London 2012 Games.

That golden throw in Tokyo marked just the beginning of a phenomenal chapter in Indian javelin. Since that day, Neeraj has soared to the sky and never looked down, becoming one of the most successful and consistent javelin throwers in the world.

Also Read: Who holds the record for longest javelin throw, and where does Neeraj Chopra stand in the list?

In 2022, he added a World Championships silver to his collection becoming the first Indian male athlete to do so. He followed it by clinching gold at the 2023 edition of the Championships in Budapest with a throw of 88.17m, again the first Indian to do so.

Among his other accolades, Neeraj has also won and defended his Asian Games gold medal in successive editions

At Paris 2024, Neeraj once again rose to the occasion. This time adding a silver medal to his Olympic tally. With that, he became only the third Indian to win two individual Olympic medals, after wrestler Sushil Kumar and shooter Manu Bhaker.

Recently, India inaugurated its first-ever international javelin event, named after its beloved star — the Neeraj Chopra Classic — in Bengaluru. The World Athletics Gold level meet was held on July 5. Neeraj won the competition with a throw of 86.18m.

The one thing that had long eluded the two-time Olympic medallist was breaking the elusive 90-metre mark. But Neeraj conquered that too. On May 16, 2025, at the Doha Diamond League, he delivered a monstrous throw of 90.23 metres, becoming the first Indian in history to cross the 90-metre barrier.

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