Neeraj Chopra, a 24-year-old athlete, created history by winning the gold medal in the Javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Once again, he is in the limelight as he won a silver medal in the men’s Javelin throw at the world athletics championship 2022.
Besides this, golden boy Neeraj Chopra has also worked in TV advertisements, where he proved his acting skills. Somehow son of a farmer worked hard and reached a certain level where he is also known as the “Golden boy of India”.
The early life of Neeraj Chopra
Born in a family of farmers on December 24, 1997, Neeraj Chopra resides in Haryana. He completed his early education at Dayanand Anglo-Vedic college, situated in Chandigarh. Later he shifted to Lovely Professional University, where he completed his graduation in the arts.
The only brother of two sisters has an alleged history of teasing. According to his father, a child teased Neeraj Chopra about his obesity. Due to that, his father admitted him to a gymnasium. Later he moved to a Panipat gym, where he witnessed javelin throw for the first time.
In 2010, Coach Javier Choudhary saw Chopra while throwing the Javelin and got surprised. Choudhary was the first coach of Neeraj’s journey. After several training programmes, Chopra won a bronze medal in the district championship and decided to pursue javelin throw further.
Personal life of Neeraj Chopra
Chopra’s family is agriculture based, though his father, Satish Kumar, was a farmer and his mother, Saroj Devi, is a homemaker. He also has two sisters, Sangeeta and Sarita. 24-year-aged athlete Neeraj Chopra has not tied his marriage knot yet.
Apart from javelin throw, he is fond of acting and reading books.
Athletic career of Neeraj Chopra
Chopra initiated his athletic career in Panipat after a boy teased him over obesity. The first coach, Jaiveer Choudhary, trained Chopra and let him learn the basics of the Javelin. He exhibited his talent in the district championship, where he grabbed the first medal.
After completing his training from Jaiveer Choudhary, he enrolled in the Tau Devi Lal complex in Panchkula, Haryana. Coach Naseem Ahmad trained him in long-distance running and javelin throw.
According to Chopra, his initial throws were around 55 metres only. But with time, he practised and increased the distance to 68.40 metres and won National Award in the National Junior Athletics championship in 2012.
After a year passed and, In 2013, Chopra initiated his first International competition by playing in Ukraine. In 2014 also, he won a silver medal at Youth Olympics in Bangkok. In 2016, Chopra won another gold medal in the South Asian Games and IAAF World under 20 championships.
Along with it, Chopra collected a lot of Awards and medals.
Medals
- 2016: Gold medal in under 20 championships and South Asian games.
- 2018: Gold medal in Sotteville athletics, Savo games, Commonwealth games and Asian games.
- 2021: Gold medal in Tokyo Olympics
Awards
- 2018: Arjuna Award
- 2020: Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM)
- 2021: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
- 2022: Param Vishist Seva medal (PVSM) and Padma Shri
What made him “Golden boy”?
The Tokyo Olympics of 2020 changed the life of Neeraj Chopra. On August 7 2021, Chopra won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in Men’s javelin throw. By winning a gold medal, Chopra became the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra in Beijing in 2008.
He scored 87.58 metres. After that, he was offered the post of “Junior commissioned officer” in Rajputana rifles in the army. Additionally, he was also given the rank of the “Naib Subedar”.
