Profile
Settings
Refer your friends
Sign out
When Neeraj Chopra won his first gold medal, he said, “My goal was always the Tokyo Olympics. I put in the hard work and trusted the process since every single effort counts when it comes to success at the highest level.”
At 18, Neeraj Chopra, India’s brilliant javelin thrower, made history when he became India’s first and only track and field athlete to secure an Olympic medal, which was gold. The gold medal that Neeraj Chopra won during Tokyo 2020 was the second individual Olympic gold for India. The first had been won by Abhinav Bindra, shooter, during Beijing 2008 for his 10m air rifle glory.
During the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra competed with very strong contestants. Some of these were Johannes Vetter (a major favourite), Anderson Peters (reigning world champion), and Keshorn Walcott (London 2012 gold medalist). Despite such strong competition, Neeraj Chopra was at the top during the qualifying round when he made his 86.65m throw. Vetter’s throw was 85.64m. During the final, Neeraj dominated the scene with no competition from the others. His first throw was 87.03m, and it got him to the perch. He managed to consolidate his position in his second attempt of 87.58m. This got him his gold.
Neeraj Chopra – Important Details
- Date of Birth: 24th December 1997
- Place of Birth: Chandra Village (Panipat, Haryana)
- Family: Agriculture-based earner
- Siblings: Two sisters
- Education: Graduation from Dayanand Anglo Vedic College (Chandigarh), pursuing Bachelor of Arts from Lovely Professional University (Jalandhar, Punjab)
- Height is 178 m (5 feet 11 inches)
- Weight: 86 kilograms
- World Rank: 4
- Sports Category: Track and field
- Coach: Coach Uwe Hohn.
- Job: A commissioned officer with Indian Army
Early Life
Neeraj Chopra did not have a clue that he would become a world champion when he turned to sports at the age of 13 to attain some confidence and lose excess weight. While watching a sports event at Panipat’s Shivaji Stadium, he became fascinated with javelins. He found that he could throw to a distance of more than 40m despite being untrained. At that time, prominent javelin thrower Jaiveer Choudhary realised his potential and talent and took it upon himself to mentor him. Neeraj proved to be a dedicated learner and flourished.
Sports Career and Awards
Neeraj Chopra dominated the national youth level scene, and he even won several international events. His real fame came when he won the gold medal at IAAF World U20 Championships (Bydgoszcz, Poland (2016)) with a record 86.48m, which still stands in the under-20 category. This made him the first Indian track and field athlete to be a world champion and have a world record to his name.
The Rio 2016 men’s javelin throw qualifying mark was 83.00m, and Neeraj could have qualified for his first Olympic Games. His injuries had stood in the way of his Rio qualification attempt.
In 2017, Neeraj became the Asian champion. He also won gold at the Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast in 2018 and the Asian Games in Jakarta in the same year.
An elbow injury that needed surgery prevented Chopra from participating in the world championships in 2019, and he was out of competition for nearly 16 months. As soon as he was back, Neeraj qualified for Tokyo 2020 at the meet held in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in January 2020.
Post his Tokyo 2020 victory, in 2022. He became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships held in Oregon. While the reigning champion and gold winner Anderson Peters of Grenada threw to a distance of 90.54m, Neeraj covered 88.31m. This silver medal was India’s second at the world level, and the first was a bronze won by Anju Bobby George (long jump) at the Paris world championships in 2003.
Chopra has held the men’s javelin national record since 2016 till date. His current national record is 89.94m (Stockholm Diamond League 2022).
National Awards
- Arjuna Award – 2018
- Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award – 2021
- Padma Shri – Republic Day honours (2022)
- Param Vishisht Seva Medal – Republic Day honours (2022)
- Vishisht Seva Medal –Republic Day honours (2020)
- On 27th August 2021, the Pune cantonment’s Army Sports Institute stadium was renamed ‘Neeraj Chopra Stadium’ by Rajnath Singh (Defence Minister).
Net Worth Income and Brand Endorsements
Asianet news has gone on record to say that as of 2022, the monthly earnings of Neeraj Chopra stand at about ₹5.5 lakh. It goes on to say that his annual income is about ₹5.5 crores.
YouGov SPORT (a research consultancy company) report states that at the time of the Olympics in Tokyo (2020), more than 2.9 million mentions were recorded of Neeraj Chopra from more than 1.4 million Instagram users. With this, he became the ‘most mentioned’ athlete globally during the games. After he won the gold, his social media reach globally crossed 412 million.
With this huge rise in his fan following, he received offers from various brands for endorsements. News18 claimed that his brand value went up 1000 percent post-2020 Olympics. He entered into deals with various new brands (such as Cred, Byju’s, and Tata AIA), and the brands he was already endorsing (such as ExxonMobil and Nike) increased his endorsement fee multifold. The pre-gold winning endorsement fee was ₹20 to ₹30 lakh per annum, which rose to about ₹2.5 crores.
Javelin Throw World Records
Neeraj Chopra Records
| Event | Edition | Distance |
| Olympic Games | Tokyo 2020 | 87.58 m |
| Asian Games | Jakarta 2018 | 88.06 m |
| Diamond League | Stockholm 2022 | 89.94 |
| Commonwealth Games | Glad Coast 2018 | 86.47 m |
| World Championships | Oregon 2022 | 88.39 m |
| Asian Championships | Bhubaneswar 2017 | 85.23 m |
| World U20 Championships | Bydgoszcz 2016 | 86.48 m |
| Asian Junior Championships | Ho Chi-Minh 2017 | 77.6 m |
| South Asian Games | Guwahati 2016 | 82.23 |
