Neeraj Chopra, the 23-year-old from Haryana has scripted history as he has become independent India’s first gold medallist in athletics and second overall gold medallist overall. He scripted history when he threw his spear 87.58m away to secure gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event in Tokyo.
A medal was always expected from the 23-year-old who went into the game as the second favourite after Germany’s Johannes Vetter, who surprisingly failed to qualify for the final round after failing to stay in the top eight.
Neeraj had qualified for the final with a throw of 86.65m and topping the Group A.
This was Neeraj Chopra’s first appearance at the Olympics but his journey towards clinching an Olympic berth has not been easy, amid a few injury setbacks hindering his goal.
Neeraj made his international debut in 2016, when he won the World U20 Championship in Bydogszcz, Poland, with a world junior record throw of 86.48 metres. He won gold in the 2016 South Asian Games with a throw of 82.23 metres. The fact that he equalled the then-Indian national record added to the significance of this performance.
In 2017 at the Asian Athletic Championships, Neeraj clinched another gold with a throw of 85.23.
When he won gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast with a season-best throw of 86.57, he became the first Indian javelin thrower to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Only a few months later, in August, Neeraj broke his own record with a throw of 88.06 metres at the Asian Games 2018, where he won gold.
However, the setbacks occurred after that. In May of this year, Neeraj had a career-threatening shoulder injury and had to undergo extensive surgery, which kept him out of the game for more than six months.
Neeraj was also in line to take part in the National Championships in late 2019, but, because of his injury, he did not get clearance from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). He was was also forced to miss the IAAF World Championships, Diamond League, and the Asian Championships.
Neeraj came back with a bang in 2020 as he breached the Olympic qualification mark at the ACNE League meeting in South Africa. He threw at a distance of 81.56m in his first attempt, his results kept getting better, managing 82 m and 82.57 m in the second and third attempts respectively. Then in the fifth attempt, he threw a massive 87.86m
However, there was a significant gap between the event in South Africa and his next competitive test after obtaining the Olympic place. He then trained in Turkey for a brief stint before returning to India amid the pandemic.
He returned to competitive action in June this year, when he threw 83.18m at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa in Portugal where he won gold.
Neeraj continued to train in Eurpe and won gold at the Karlstad Grand Prix in Sweden in late June. Then he won a bronze at the Kuortane Games in Finland with a throw of 86.79 where 2017 world champion Germany’s Johannes Vetter won the event with a best throw of 93.59m.
He then chose to skip World Athletics silver-level event in Switzerland, owing to fatigue and later on opted to skip a Diamond League event in London on 13 July.
Major Achievements
- Gold Medal, Olympic Games 2020
- Gold Medal, Asian Games 2018
- Gold Medal, Commonwealth Games 2018
- Gold Medal, Asian Athletics Championships 2017
- Gold Medal, World U-20 Athletics Championships 2016
- Gold Medal, South Asian Games 2016
- Silver Medal, Asian Junior Championships 2016
- Current National Record Holder (88.07m – 2021)
- Current World Junior Record Holder (86.48m – 2016)
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