DATE OF BIRTH :
1997-12-24
HEIGHT :
184
NATIONALITY :
Indian
ROLE :
Javelin throw
CURRENT TEAMS :
About
Born on December 24, 1997, Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete who has achieved significant accolades in his career. He currently holds the title of reigning Olympic champion and is a silver medalist in the World Championship. Chopra is also the Diamond League champion in Javelin throw, making him the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in Men's Javelin throw. As a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army, he holds the distinction of being the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics. In addition, he is the first track and field athlete from India to win at the IAAF World U20 Championships, where he set a world under-20 record throw of 86.48 m in 2016, becoming the first Indian athlete to set a world record.
Chopra's accomplishments include serving as the flag-bearer in the 2018 Asian Games, where he won a gold medal, and competing in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in his debut, he won the gold medal with a throw of 87.58 m in his second attempt. He is one of only two Indians to have won an individual Olympic gold medal (the other being Abhinav Bindra) and is the youngest-ever Indian Olympic gold medalist in an individual event. Moreover, he is the only individual to have won gold on his Olympic debut.
On June 14, 2022, Chopra set a new national record of 89.30m in Turku, Finland, at the Paavo Nurmi Games, beating his own record again by reaching 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden on June 30, 2022.
Lastly, on July 23, 2022, Chopra won a Silver medal in the 2022 World Athletics Championships, with a throw of 88.13m. He became the second Indian to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships.
