Subedar Neeraj Chopra is an Indian Javelin thrower who will compete in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Neeraj Chopra age
He was born on 24th December 1997. That makes him a 23-year-old.
Neeraj Chopra height
The 23-year-old athlete is approximately 1.78m (5ft 10 inches).
Neeraj Chopra hometown
He was born into a farming family in Khandra near Panipat in Haryana.
Neeraj Chopra Bio, achievements and medals
Since childhood, Neeraj was always interested in sports and motivated to play all day. His inspiration to become an athlete (in Javelin Throw) came after seeing his seniors doing Javelin Throw in his village.
He had recently moved to Panipat and in an accidental approach to finding the gym, he got introduced to Javelin.
Earlier in his career, Neeraj has achieved a lot of success courtesy of his determination and dedication towards his craft. He worked on his Javelin throwing skills at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) from 2011 to 2015.
He was celebrated by India for the first time in 2016 when he set a junior world record and bagged the gold medal at the IAAF World U20 Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
At the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Chopra recorded a season-best throw of 86.47. Chopra then became the first Indian to win the Commonwealth Games javelin gold and only the 4th track and field athlete from India to win a Commonwealth Games gold.
Later, On 25 September 2018, the Government of India awarded Neeraj Chopra with the prestigious Arjuna Award. Most recently, he hurled the javelin at 88.07m to break his own national record. His previous best was the 88.06m throw. He clinched a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games each.
Representing India in the competitions, Chopra has 5 gold and 1 silver under his belt.
Neeraj Chopra Olympic Experiences
He failed to make it to the2016 Summer Olympics and hasn’t had much luck at the Olympics.
Although, concerning his participation in the Tokyo Olympics, the qualification cutoff in men’s Javelin is 85 m. However, Chopra’s talent had already bagged him a seat at the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the Athletics Central North East meeting in South Africa in January last year.
Neeraj Chopra Olympic Gold Medal
After many questions and doubts that at times sidelined Neeraj from the medal limelight, the monstrous throw in the two opening rounds of the final sealed the deal for the Indian athlete. Hurling everything in those two humongous throws, he penned a throw of 87.58 m in the second round that sailed him right at the top to bag the historic gold for India.
He also became the first Indian to win a gold medal in track and field events and the second gold-medallist for India post-Abhinav Bindra in individual efforts.
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