Neeraj Chopra, a Haryanvi boy, born in Panipat, had a very humble life. He was just another boy who had dreams and aspirations of his own. The only difference is, he achieved those by working hard. He made India proud by winning a Gold Medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. This star athlete created many records for India and is still doing so. People were fascinated by his journey and wanted to know more facts about Neeraj Chopra.
The latest win of this Olympic Gold Medallist was winning a gold medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championship in the javelin throw. He proved again why he is India’s star athlete. He has done a lot in this field and continues to do so looking at a brighter future ahead. Everyone wants to know more about him and his life. Let us look at some interesting facts about Neeraj Chopra:
1. He is an Indian track and field athlete and an excellent ‘javelin throw’ player.
2. Being first in a country is one thing but being first in a continent- That is brilliant!
3. 7th August 2021 was the day India got its gold medal in the Olympics for javelin throw- Thanks to this man for creating history!
4. Neeraj Chopra joined the 4 Rajputana Rifles unit as a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) – Naib Subedar – in December 2016. He was promoted to Subedar in 2018 after winning the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold.
5. Chopra won a gold medal in the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland and set a world junior record of 86.48 m, becoming the first Indian athlete to achieve a world record, at the same time setting a new national record.
6. On 27 August, he threw a distance of 88.06 m to win gold in the Men’s javelin throw at the 2018 Asian Games and broke his own record. It was also India’s first gold medal in the javelin throw at the Asian Games.
7. He is also the second Indian to win a gold medal after Abhinav Bindra.
8. Because of all this teasing he was enrolled in a gymnasium by his father where he first learnt about javelin as a sport and started participating in it. Javelin thrower Akshay Choudhary became his first coach there.
9. Also this was the last tournament win before he got injured and had to take a break.
10. Neeraj Chopra donated his gold-winning javelin to The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. His work as a tourism ambassador would be to promote the adventurous outdoors of Switzerland to Indian travellers.
11. India’s greatest sports award for outstanding performance has been given to him.
12. For his outstanding and record-breaking performance in the Tokyo Olympics, he was given this honor.
13. Neeraj Chopra is nicknamed ‘sarpanch’. He was given the nickname after Neeraj wore a brand new kurta gifted by his father to college which made him have a very formal appearance and his friends named him this.
14. In September 2021, the young athlete took his parents on their first flight after winning the Olympic gold. This was a dream come true moment for the whole family.
15. He re-started his studies in 2021 and is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Arts degree from Love Professional University in Punjab.
These were some of the interesting facts about Neeraj Chopra, the star athlete. We wish him all the success for his even brighter future.