India at Paris Olympics 2024: Know your athlete – Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra, India's first field athlete to secure a gold medal at the Olympics, will start as favourite to add another gold in the men's javelin throw final event at the Paris Olympics 2024. On August 7, 2021, Neeraj had already made history by clinching India’s first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics. Born into a farming family in Khandra village, Haryana, the 26-year-old achieved this feat with a winning throw of 87.58m.

A graduate of Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Chandigarh, Neeraj battled childhood obesity, which prompted his family to encourage him to take up sports. Eventually, he chose javelin throw and began training at the Shivaji Stadium in Panipat. After a year of training, he joined the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula at the age of 13, where his coach Naseem Ahmad guided him in long-distance running alongside javelin throw.

Initially, Neeraj's throws were around 55 meters, but he quickly improved. At the National Junior Athletics Championships in Lucknow on October 27, 2012, he set a new national record with a throw of 68.40 meters, winning the gold medal.

In 2014, Neeraj Chopra won his first international medal, a silver, at the Youth Olympics Qualification in Bangkok. The following year, he earned his first medal in a national senior championship at the inter-state event in Chennai, recording a throw of 77.33 meters. The year 2016 marked a significant breakthrough for Neeraj as he achieved a gold medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati with a throw of 82.23 meters.

Impressed by his performances in both national and international tournaments, the Indian Army appointed him as a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Rajputana Rifles in 2017. He received a direct appointment as a Naib Subedar.

Upon joining the Army, Neeraj underwent training at the 'Mission Olympics Wing' and the Army Sports Institute in Pune. The Mission Olympics Wing is dedicated to identifying and training promising athletes in 11 disciplines for various national and international competitions.

In 2018, Neeraj clinched the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games with a season-best throw of 86.47 meters. That same year, he achieved his personal best of 87.43 meters at the Diamond League in Doha. On August 27, he secured another gold at the Asian Games with a throw of 88.06 meters.