Neeraj Chopra: Olympic Gold Medalist, Career, Biography, Medals

Indian track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra competed in the javelin throwing event in this year’s Olympics. Before he became an Olympic Gold Medalist, he had already achieved a lot at an early age. He is 24 years old, and he has won a lot of gold medals. From 2004 to 2010, Neeraj Chopra had won a total of 32 medals at the national level. He was also runner up for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India in the Under-20 boy’s javelin. Neeraj had won 4 gold medals at the National School Games in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Neeraj won the gold medal on 7 August 2021, in his debut, at Tokyo Olympics 2020, with a throw of 87.58m in his second attempt.

Career

Jaiveer Choudhary was first Neeraj Chopra’s coach in 2010. After training with Choudhary, Chopra was admitted to the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex at Panchkula. Naseem Ahmad was his coach there. Naseem Ahman also taught him long-distance running and javelin throwing. At Tau Devi, He achieved throws around 54 meters. Soon he increased his range, and on 27 October 2012, in the National Junior Athletics Championships Lucknow, he won the gold medal with a new national record throw of 68.40 meters.

Awards and Achievements

Gold Medal

• 2016: South Asian Games in Guwahati, India
• 2016: World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland
• 2017: Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, India
• 2018: Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia
• 2018: Sotteville Athletics Meet in Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France
• 2018: Savo Games in Lapinlahti, Finland
• 2018: Asian Games in Jakarta (Indonesia) and Palembang
• 2021: Tokyo Olympics 2020

Silver Medal

• 2016: Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• 2017: Asian Grand Prix Series in Jinhua, China
• 2017: Asian Grand Prix Series in Jiaxing, China
• 2018: Offenburg Speerwurf Meeting in Offenburg, Germany

Bronze Medal

2017: Asian Grand Prix Series in Taipei, Taiwan

Achievements

• 2017 Hindustan Times Top 30 under 30 awarded by Captain Amarinder Singh
• 2018 Arjuna Award
• 2020 Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM)
• 2021 Sportstar ACES Award- Sportsman of the Decade (Track and Field)

Personal Life

Chopra was born on December’24, 1997, in Khandra village of Panipat, Haryana. Neeraj Chopra’s father is Satish Kumar, and his mother is Saroj Devi. He has two sisters Sangeeta & Sarita. Neeraj has completed his graduation from Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Chandigarh. He loves animals and shares photos with them on social media.

Career

Jaiveer Choudhary was Neeraj Chopra’s first coach in 2010. After training with Choudhary, Chopra was admitted to the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex at Panchkula. Naseem Ahmad was his coach there. Naseem Ahman also taught him long-distance running and javelin throwing. At Tau Devi, He achieved throws around 54 meters. Soon he increased his range, and on 27 October 2012, in the National Junior Athletics Championships Lucknow, he won the gold medal with a new national record throw of 68.40 meters.