Neeraj Chopra: All you need to know about India’s golden boy

Neeraj Chopra created history in the men’s javelin throw final of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, securing the country a maiden gold medal in the sport. He became the first track and field athlete from the country to win a gold and only the second Indian to win an individual gold medal in the history of the Games. Shooter Abhinav Bindra was the first to win the coveted gold at the 2008 Bejing Olympics. Besides, Neeraj’s heroics have helped India record their best-ever medal haul in a single Olympics. The country has now won seven medals in Tokyo – one more than their previous best in the 2012 London Games.

#TeamIndia | #Tokyo2020 | #Athletics
Men’s Javelin Throw Final Results

It’s a GOLD at the #OlympicStadium#NeerajChopra is an #OlympicChampion! Goes down in history as #TeamIndia ‘s 1st #Olympics Gold medallist in Athletics and 2nd individual. Take a bow champ @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/CWLdw3Df4g

— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 7, 2021

10 things to know about Neeraj Chopra:

1. Neeraj Chopra, who is a son of a farmer, is from Khandra village, Panipat district, Haryana and was educated at DAV College, Chandigarh.
2. In 2016, he was appointed a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army with the rank of Naib Subedar.
3. Chopra rose to prominence after winning a sensational gold medal at the 2016 Junior World Championships in Poland.
4. He had previously set the Junior World Record in 2016 with a throw of 86.48 metres.
5. Chopra had earlier won the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017, the 2018 Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games of 2018.
6. The 23-year-old athlete’s best attempt of 87.58m in the final of the Tokyo Olympics was enough to beat the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch’s best of 86.67m, and Vitezslav Vesely’s (also Czech) 85.44m.
7. Chopra’s gold medal winning throw was not his personal best. He achieved a new national record of 88.07m in March of this year, beating his previous record of 88.06m set at the 2018 Asian Games.
8. It is the first time in the history of independent India, an athlete has won any medal in any track and field event.
9. Neeraj’s victory is India’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and the country’s second individual gold in its Olympic history following Abhinav Bindra’s heroics at Beijing 2008.
10. Chopra’s gold medal on Saturday will also hold a major significance for India as it was a record seventh medal in Tokyo, which is the country’s best-ever medal tally in a single Games.