Neeraj Chopra PVSM VSM (born 24 December 1997) is an Indian track and field athlete who is the reigning Olympic Champion in javelin throw. As of August 2021, he is ranked second internationally by World Athletics. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army, Chopra is the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics.[6] He is also the first track and field athlete from India to win at the IAAF World U20 Championships, where in 2016 he achieved a world under-20 record throw of 86.48 m, becoming the first Indian athlete to set a world record.
Chopra participated in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Asian Games, serving as the flag-bearer in the latter and winning gold medals in both. In his debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Chopra won the gold medal on 7 August 2021 with a throw of 87.58 m in his second attempt. As of 2021, he is one of only two Indians to have won an individual Olympic gold medal (the other being Abhinav Bindra), as well as the youngest-ever Indian Olympic gold medalist in an individual event and the only one to have won gold in his Olympic debut.[7]
But behind every successful athlete is a story of trials, tribulations and sheer determination. The same is true for Chopra, who championed personal battles and background constraints to ace this momentous milestone with perfection.
Interestingly, at the young age of 12, the track star weighed a hefty 90 kilos. His training in sports began only as a way to get healthy, even though he was never interested in it. Little did he know then that this was going to lead to his success.
It was a chance meeting with javelin thrower Jai Choudhary, during a morning run, that his potential in the sport was discovered.
Hailing from Khandra village of Panipat, Chopra comes from a humble family of farmers. Back then, to take up a career in sports required shelling major chunks of family savings.
But this gritty sportsman made it all worth it with his persevering training and go-getter attitude. He held on through injury, failure and hardship to become nothing less than the finest.
Till date, Neeraj uses every challenge to move closer to his goals. It is probably this focussed approach that has won him accolades across multiple renowned platforms through the years. He has been a gold medallist at the Asian Athletic Championships, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games
After local children teased him about his childhood obesity, Chopra's father enrolled him in a gymnasium at Madlauda; he was later enrolled in a gym in Panipat. While playing at Shivaji stadium in Panipat, he saw some javelin throwers and began participating himself.[11]
Chopra visited the nearby Panipat Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre, where javelin thrower Jaiveer Choudhary recognised his early talent in the winter of 2010.[12] Observing Chopra's ability to achieve a 40-metre throw without training and impressed by his drive, Choudhary became his first coach.[13] Chopra learned the basics of the sport from Choudhary and a few more experienced athletes who had trained under a javelin coach in Jalandhar.[14] He soon won his first medal, a bronze in the district championships, and then persuaded his family to allow him to live in Panipat while developing his abilities.[14]
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