Neeraj Chopra

Naib Subedar Neeraj Chopra
Born	24 December 1997(1997-12-24) Panipat, Haryana, India
Nationality	Indian
Education	DAV College, Chandigarh
Military career
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Army
Rank	Naib Subedar

Naib Subedar Neeraj Chopra (born 24 December 1997) is an Indian track and field athlete and an Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Indian Army, who competes in the javelin throw. He represented India at the 2018 Asian Games where he won a gold medal, setting the national record of 88.06 m, and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he also clinched the gold medal. He was the 2016 IAAF World U20 champion and set the world junior record of 86.48 m at the U20 championships. Chopra was selected as the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony for India at the 2018 Asian Games, which marked his first Asian Games appearance. He also represents India at the IAAF Diamond League.

After winning back-to-back CWG and Asian Games Gold medals in 2018, Chopra suffered an injury to his right elbow and had to undergo surgery in May 2019 causing him to miss the entire 2019 season. After undergoing an extensive rehabilitation process, Chopra returned to competitive action in style by throwing 87.86m at the ACNE League meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa in January 2020. The throw, his second best throw ever, also saw him achieve the qualifying standard for Tokyo 2020 and qualify for his first ever Olympic Games.

Early life

Chopra is from Khandra village, Panipat district, Haryana. He was educated at DAV College, Chandigarh.

Neeraj is a Junior Commissioned Officer of the Indian Army with the rank of Naib Subedar in 2016.

Career

Neeraj won a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games with a throw of 82.23 m, where he equalled the Indian national record.

He won a gold medal in 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He also set a world junior record. Despite these performances, he failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics as the cut off date was 11 July.

Neeraj won another gold medal in Asian Athletic championships 2017 with a throw of 85.23 meters.

Neeraj Chopra registered a season best effort of 86.47 meters in men's javelin throw at 2018 Commonwealth Games (CWG). With that, Chopra not only joined an elite list of Indian athletes to win a gold medal on their Commonwealth Games debut, but also became the first Indian to triumph in Javelin Throw at CWG.

In May 2018, he again broke the national record at the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 87.43 meters.

He is currently being coached by German bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz. Previously, he has been coached by Gary Calvert, Werner Daniels and Uwe Hohn.

On 27 August 2018, Neeraj threw a distance of 88.06 m to win gold in the Men's javelin throw at the 2018 Asian Games and set a new Indian national record, bettering his own previous record.

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing India
2013	World Youth Championships	Donetsk, Ukraine	19th (q)	Javelin throw (700 g)	66.75 m
2015	Asian Championships	Wuhan, China	9th	Javelin throw	70.50 m
2016	2016 South Asian Games	Guwahati, India	01 !	Javelin throw	82.23 m
	Asian Junior Championships	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	02 !	Javelin throw	77.60 m
	World U20 Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	01 ! WJR	Javelin throw	86.48 m
2017	Asian Grand Prix Series	Jinhua, China	02 !	Javelin throw	82.11 m
		Jiaxing, China	02 !		83.32 m
		Taipei, Taiwan	03 !		79.90 m
	Asian Championships	Bhubaneswar, India	01 !	Javelin throw	85.23 m
	IAAF Diamond League	Paris, France	7th (10 pts)	Javelin throw	84.67 m
		Fontvieille, Monaco			78.92 m
		Zurich, Switzerland			83.80 m
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	15th (q)	Javelin throw	82.26 m
2018	Offenburg Speerwurf Meeting	Offenburg, Germany	02 !	Javelin throw	82.80 m
	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	01 !	Javelin throw	86.47 m
	IAAF Diamond League	Doha, Qatar	4th (17 pts)	Javelin throw	87.43 m
		Eugene, Oregon, USA			80.81 m
		Rabat, Morocco			83.32 m
		Zurich, Switzerland			85.73 m
	Sotteville Athletics Meet	Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France	01 !	Javelin throw	85.17 m
	Savo Games	Lapinlahti, Finland	01 !	Javelin throw	85.69 m
	Asian Games	Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia	01 ! NR	Javelin throw	88.06 m
2020	Athletics Central North East	Potchefstroom, South Africa	Olympics quota	Javelin throw	87.86

NR−National Records

WJR−World U20 Junior Records

q−Qualification round

External links

• Template:World Athletics