Neeraj Chopra’s Early Life.
Neeraj Chopra whose name appears on the very top of Javelin Throw, was born on 24 December 1997 in Khandra village in Panipat, Haryana, and belongs to a farmer family. Neeraj’s father Satish Kumar, an agriculturalist in the village of Khandra, as well as his mother Saroj Devi, is a homemaker. Neeraj also has two sisters.
At just eleven years old, he first began to notice his fascination with Javelin after meeting Jaiveer (Jai Choudhary) who practiced Javelin on the field at Panipat Stadium and was a Javelin player who represented Haryana. Jaiveer was impressed by Neeraj’s 40 meters throw with no training and was his first coach. Neeraj received coaching with Jaiveer for one year.
Neeraj Chopra has made a debut on the international stage in 2013 when he competed at the World Youth Championships in Ukraine. He was awarded the silver medal, with the throwing distance of 76.79 meters. In 2014, he took home the gold medal in the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China by throwing a distance of 86.48 meters. It was the first time the Indian athlete won gold in javelin during the Youth Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra Education
- He did his schooling from BVN Public School.
- He graduated from Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Chandigarh.
- Currently, he is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts from Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar, Punjab.
Neeraj Chopra Coaches
Actually, there are a bunch of coaches that Neeraj Chopra Trained under. He has been coached by many different people over the years some of his best Coaches are:
- Klaus Bartonietz (since 2019)
- Uwe Hohn (2018-2021) (First and only javelin thrower to breach the 100m mark (104.80m) throw at the 1984 Olympics.)
- Werner Daniels
- Kashinath Naik
- Gary Calvert
- Naseem Ahmad
- Jaiveer Singh (Childhood coach)
Achievements of Neeraj Chopra
- Neeraj became an under-16 national champion after taking home the Junior Nationals Lucknow by achieving the record-breaking feat of 68.40 meters in the throw.
- The year 2013 saw Neeraj Chopra participate in the first-ever international contest at the World Youth Championships in Ukraine. He took home his first medal at the international level in 2014, with a silver in the Youth Olympics Qualification in Bangkok. He threw his first of more than 70 meters at the senior nationals of 2014.
- In the year 2015, Chopra broke the previous world record for junior class with a throw of 81.04 meters in the All-India Inter-University Athletics meet and was the first time thrown greater than 80 meters.
- Neeraj Chopra won an award of gold at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland and set an international junior record of 86.48 meters, becoming the first Indian athlete to set the world record while in addition to setting a new record for the national championships.
- Indian Army got impressed by his numerous national and international competitions, and they decided to create him as an Junior Commission Officer in 2017 and then he was given directly appointed Junior Commissioner Officers within Rjputana Rifles at the ranking of “Naib Subedar”.
- Neeraj took gold at the Common Wealth Games, 2018 having thrown a throw record of 86.47 meters. The same year, he set a personal record of 87.43 meters in the Diamond League at Doha.
- An elbow injury that required surgery was a major reason that stopped Chopra from taking part in the world championships of 2019 and kept him off for more than 16 months. When he came returning, Neeraj qualified for Tokyo 2020, at the meet that was held at Potchefstroom, South Africa, beginning in January 2020.
- In the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 Neeraj was India’s first track and field Olympic gold medallist by presenting the best throw of 87.58 meters in his second try to earn the medal of gold for India in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Neeraj was able to qualify to participate in the Tokyo Olympics through a throw of 87.86 meters at the ACNE league. He surpassed the Olympic standard of 85 meters on his fourth attempt. He was able to secure his top spot at the world championships.
- In July 2022 Neeraj by throwing 88.13 meters in the javelin for men’s throw final of the Oregon World Championships ensured himself the historical silver medal.
- On May 20, 2023 Chopra was spot the top player at the Doha Diamond League by throw the throwing distance of 88.67 meters. In the same month Neeraj, for the first time, clinched the first place in the men’s javelin throw rankings by World Athletics.
- In August 2023, he won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships with a throw of 88.17 meters.
Neeraj Chopra says he wants to take team photo with the mens relay team, takes a great catch to not let the flag drop to the floor, and then joins the runners in a huddle.
— Dipankar Lahiri (@soiledshoes) October 4, 2023
Moment of the day. #AsianGames2023 pic.twitter.com/wC83MRvyYP
- In October 2023, Neeraj Chopra defended his Asian Games gold medal with a best throw of 88.88m in the final.
Neeraj Chopra Awards
Neeraj Chopra has been awarded honor and awards for his exceptional accomplishments in the field of javelin throwing. Here are a few notable awards he’s received to date:
- National Youth Award (2018): Neeraj Chopra received the National Youth Award in 2018 for his accomplishments in the world of sports and also for inspiring the young of India.
- FICCI Breakthrough Sports Person of the Year (2018): Neeraj Chopra was honoured as FICCI Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) as the Breakthrough Sports Person of the Year for 2018.
- Arjuna Award (2018): Neeraj Chopra was awarded the Arjuna Award from the Government of India in 2018 for his outstanding contribution to athletics especially his gold medal victory in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
- Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (2021): India’s most prestigious sporting award that is Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, was bestowed to Neeraj Chopra on 2021 to commemorate his illustrious gold medal win during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
- Padma Shri (2022): In 2022, Neeraj Chopra was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the most prestigious civilian awards in India in recognition of his outstanding achievements in sports.
Diamond League
In June 2022, at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, Chopra was second in the event with a new personal record of 89.30 meters and set the new record for the national team. Chopra broke his own national record by throwing a distance of 89.94 meters to finish second in the Stockholm Diamond League.
On the 26th of August 2022, he took the first spot in the Lausanne Diamond League with a throw of 89.09m and qualified in the Zurich Final.
On 20th May 2023 Chopra was spot the top player at the Doha Diamond League by throw the throwing distance of 88.67 meters.
On 16th September 2023 Neeraj Chopra finished at the 2nd spot in the Eugene Diamond League final with the best throw of 83.80m.
What Is Diamond League
The Diamond League is an annual series of top track and field competitions that includes 14 of the top invitational athletics meetings. This series is located within the top-tier World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) single-day meet competitions.
In the lead-up to the Diamond League finals, the athletes participate in 13 matches of the series that are held at various locations. The top eight athletes participating at these events receive a certain amount of cash prize.
In each meeting of the series at each series meeting, athletes receive points for placing first through eighth. Six athletes who are at the top of the field events will compete at the end of the series.