Neeraj Chopra, the Indian gold medalist at World Athletics Championship 

Athlete Neeraj Chopra competes for India in the javelin throw. In the Indian Army, he is a Junior Commissioned Officer (Subedar).

Information about Neeraj Chopra 

A look into Neeraj Chopra’s life-

When asked in an interview how he became interested in javelin, he revealed that at the age of 11, weighed 80 kilograms and was an obese child. He went to the Panipat Stadium during his holiday to get in shape. His daily allowance was around Rs. 30, and several days he had barely enough money for a glass of juice. To get to the stadium, he took a bus for about 17 kilometers. His uncle, who worked in Panipat City, and he used to return together. He did not particularly love running, despite the fact that he was doing it to lose weight. When his senior Jaiveer, who has competed for Haryana in the javelin, was practicing, he would watch from a distance. He attempted the javelin one day on his advice. His self-esteem was restored when he saw he could throw it a long way.

Neeraj stated in an interview that his family and the villagers helped him, and that his uncle Bheem Singh had urged him to pursue a career in the javelin. He continued by mentioning the dearth of sports facilities in his community. He stated, “I left home when I was 14 because there weren’t enough amenities. After class 9, my official schooling was disrupted. In my ideal world, villagers wouldn’t have to relocate to cities the way I did to Panchkula. At the national, international, and Olympic levels, Haryana athletes are excelling, but my town still lacks a playground. Every time I visit, I have to work on my driving. Every community needs to have a stadium and hire coaches from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, where I now train, if we want to be an Olympian nation.”

Some achievements of Neeraj Chopra

• He set a national record and won the U-20 World Championship in 2016.Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, thanked him on social media after this.

• In the parent unit 4 Rajputana Rifles, he was commissioned as a Junior Commissioned Officer (NaibSubedar rank) in the Indian Army in 2016. Later, he was chosen to receive instruction at the Army Sports Institute and Mission Olympics Wing in Pune. Then, he was elevated to the Subedar level from Naib Subedar.

• He was chosen to carry India’s flag at the 2018 Asian Games.

• He competed for India in the javelin throw event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which was postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus epidemic. Neeraj’s uncle revealed in an interview that Neeraj avoided distractions by turning off his phone a year before to the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

• He became the first Indian to take home a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on August 7, 2021, with a mark of 87.58 meters. He became the first Indian to take home an athletics gold medal after winning the gold. He follows in the footsteps of another Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra as the second Indian to win an Olympic gold medal.

Lesser known facts about Neeraj Chopra

• In Panipat, Haryana, he is one of over 17 people that live in a joint family. He used to be a plump child and wore a white kurta-pajama as a child. The residents of his hamlet used to refer to him as Sarpanch.

• Due to an injury, he had surgery in 2019 right elbow injury during the 68th All Inter-Services Athletics in India in 2018.

• He gave Rs. 2 lakh to the PM Cares Fund on March 31, 2020, during the coronavirus outbreak.

• The BCCI president declared a financial incentive of Rs. 1 crore for his victory. Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, presented him with a monetary prize of Rs. 6 crores and a Grade 1 position in the state government. Later, Captain Amarinder Singh, the chief minister of Punjab, gave him a reward of Rs. 2 crores for winning. He honored the renowned Indian athlete Milkha Singh by dedicating his gold medal to him.

• Before the Tokyo Olympics 2020, he cut his lengthy hair short so that it wouldn’t get in the way of his javelin throw practice.

• He enjoys riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle and does it frequently.