Neeraj Chopra
Indian javelin thrower (born 1997) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Subedar Major Neeraj Chopra PVSM VSM OLY (born 24 December 1997) is an Indian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, becoming the first Asian athlete to do so at an Olympic event. He is also the first Asian to win the javelin gold in the World Athletics Championships after his win in 2023.
Chopra is the first athletics gold medalist for India. As of 2024[update], he is one of only two Indians to have won an individual Olympic gold medal, the youngest-ever Indian Olympic gold medalist in an individual event and the only individual to have won gold on his Olympic debut. He is one of the five individual multiple medalists for India at the Olympics after his silver medal at the 2024 Olympics. He was the first Indian to win at the World Under-20 Championships, where he achieved a world U20 record throw of 86.48 m in 2016, becoming the first Indian athlete to set a world record in athletics.
Chopra's silver medal at the 2022 World Championships made him the second Indian to win a medal at a World Athletics Championships. He has also won gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and is a multiple Asian Games gold medalist. He won gold at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, serving as the flag-bearer in the former.