Neeraj Chopra: The boy with a golden arm

Neeraj Chopra has carved his name in history books by winning a Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj thus became India’s first ever individual gold-medalist in athletics at the Olympic Games and only the second Indian to win an individual gold medal after Abhinav Bindra in shooting at 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Chopra’s ‘Golden Throw’ of 87.58m ensured that he finished first ahead of Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) and Julian Weber (85.30m), both from Czech Republic, Pakistani Arshad Nadeem (84.62m) and German Jakub Vadlejch (83.98m).

Neeraj’s medal is also India’s first in athletics at the Olympic Games since 1900 when Norman Prichard who had won two silver medals.

Hailing from Khandra village in Panipat district in the state of Haryana, Neeraj was born on 24 December 1997. He completed his education at DAV College in Chandigarh.

The Panipat-born sensation is already a reputed name in world athletics, especially in Javelin's throw event. In 2016, Neeraj won the IAAF World U-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. During that tournament, Neeraj created a junior world record of 86.48m, which gained him noticeable

recognition and fame among Indian sports fans. He is the first Indian athlete to ever win a world title in a track and field event in U-20 category.

Neeraj also won a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where he established a new Indian national record of 88.06m and served as the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Chopra has since broken his personal record, throwing 88.07m in early March at the Indian Grand Prix 3 in Patiala this year which was the fourth best throw in the world this season.

In addition to the Asian Games, Neeraj has won gold at three competitions in 2018, including the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, the Sotteville Athletics Meet in France, and the Savo Games in Finland.

In 2018, Neeraj Chopra was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.

When he is not competing, Neeraj serves as a commissioned officer in the Indian armed services, which he joined in 2016.