Happy Birthday, Neeraj Chopra! Today, the nation’s renowned javelin thrower turns 24 years. All that comes to our mind on hearing his name is that he is India’s first-ever Olympics gold medal in track and field in the post-independence era. And what’s more attractive is that he bagged gold in style.
In Tokyo Olympics 2020, Neeraj participated in the men’s javelin throw event and registered a distance of 87.58m that was enough for him and India to celebrate the historic win of the first-ever gold medal in athletics.
‘The man with golden arms’ as many call him, has made an amazing career so far. Let us take a look at his achievements in brief:
A flying start: Neeraj Chopra made an amazing start as he won a gold medal at the South Asian Games in 2016. He registered a throw of 84.23m, which equalled the then Indian record. Notably, Neeraj first won a silver medal at the international level.
Setting record: Just at 18 years of age, Neeraj performed exceptionally well at the IAAF World U20 Championship. He registered a throw of 86.48m, surpassing the previous world’s records of Men’s U20 javelin throw. Interesting, his record still has not been broken by any athlete.
Gold medal on CWG debut: Neeraj Chopra made his debut in Commonwealth Games in 2018, where he bagged another gold medal. He registered a throw of 86.47m which was the highest record, enabling him to get the top prize. This marked him to be the first athlete to win gold in javelin throw from India at the CWG. A year earlier, he won gold in the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships.
Asian Games glory: Neeraj in 2018 registered a throw of 88.06 at the Asian Games which helped him to win the gold medal once again. This was India’s first javelin throw in the competition.
History in Tokyo Olympics: Neeraj in Tokyo Olympics 2020 became the first-ever javelin thrower and track and field athlete to win gold after the pre-independence era. However, he is second to win gold in Olympics after Abhinav Bindra’s shooting gold in 2008.
Apart from all these, Neeraj Chopra holds the rank of ‘Naib Subedar’ in the Indian Army. He was also awarded the Arjuna Award in 2018 after his commendable performance in the Commonwealth Games. In 2020, he was presented the Vishisht Seva Medal by the President of India. Post his Olympics win, Neeraj featured in advertisements and made it to the top magazine covers as well.
