Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra (born December 24, 1997, Panipat, Haryana, India) is an Indian track-and-field athlete who competes in javelin throw events and who shot to fame after taking the gold medal at the 2016 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF; now World Athletics) World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He further secured his position as a leading athlete by winning a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chopra was the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win an Olympic gold and became the second Indian, after sport shooter Abhinav Bindra (2008), to win an individual Olympic gold medal. He became the world champion in men’s javelin throw at the 2023 World Athletics Championship in Budapest. Chopra had to settle for a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics despite making one of his career’s best throws of 89.45 meters (293.47 feet).

Early life

Born to Satish Kumar, a farmer, and Saroj Devi, a homemaker, in Khandra village in Haryana state, Chopra is the eldest of three siblings. He grew up in an extended family of 19, which included three uncles. When he was a teenager, Chopra’s family worried that he was overweight and encouraged him to join a gym in Panipat for regular exercise. After his training sessions Chopra would spend time at the nearby Shivaji Stadium and watch other children his age throw the javelin. Chopra showed natural talent for the sport and befriended athletes on the track. When Chopra’s family learned about his interest in javelin throwing, they encouraged him, even though no one in their village was familiar with the sport. After training for a year at Shivaji Stadium, he moved to Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, Haryana, training with coach Naseem Ahmad.

Achievements

Chopra became the under-16 national champion in javelin by 2012, and in the following years he won more medals at the national level. His first international medal was a silver at the Youth Olympic Games qualification competition in Bangkok in 2014. In 2016 Chopra won gold medals at the South Asian Games in Guwahati, Assam state, India; the Grand Prix in Lokeren, Belgium; and the IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. His throw of 86.48 meters (283.73 feet) in the Bydgoszcz tournament final set an under-20 record.

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Chopra was inducted into the Indian Army as a junior commissioned officer (JCO) with the rank of Naib Subedar in August 2016. He was selected for the army’s Mission Olympics Wing initiative and continued to train for competitions. Discussing his commission, Chopra told the Press Trust of India in 2017:

My father is a farmer, mother a housewife and I live in a joint family. Nobody in my family has a government job, so everybody is happy. For me, it is a sort of a relief because now I am able to help my family financially besides continuing with my training.

He was promoted to Subedar in 2018 and to Subedar Major, the highest JCO rank, in 2022. In October 2025 the Indian Army granted him the rank of honorary lieutenant colonel.

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In 2017 Chopra placed first in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha state, India. In 2018 he won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and the Asian Games in Jakarta.

In 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, Chopra was considered a dark horse in a field of tough competitors. However, he had a strong throw of 86.65 meters (284.28 feet) in the qualifying round, and in the final he won the gold medal with a throw of 87.58 meters (287.34 feet). It was the first time an Indian had won an individual Olympic gold since Abhinav Bindra’s success in the 10-meter air rifle event at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. After his gold-medal winning throw, Chopra said:

It feels unbelievable. This is our first Olympic medal for a very long time…so it’s a proud moment for me and my country.

His victory earned him praise from all quarters, including congratulatory posts on Twitter (now X) from the Indian president and the prime minister. His achievement also sparked interest across India in athletics and javelin throwing.

Later in 2021 Chopra became the first male athlete to be featured on the cover of Vogue India. He went on to sign endorsement deals with a host of companies, including Gillette India and Tata AIA Life Insurance, and has become an Instagram influencer with more than nine million followers. Today in India he is as popular as cricket stars and Bollywood actors.

Chopra finished second at the Stockholm Diamond League 2022 competition with an 89.94-meter (295.08-foot) throw. Despite struggling with injury in 2023, he won two gold medals that year—one at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest and a second at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Chopra finished second in the Doha Diamond League in May 2024 and won gold at the Federation Cup 2024 in Bhubaneshwar the same month. Chopra secured another gold in June with a throw of 85.97 meters (282.05 feet) at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland. Training under coach and biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz, who was also his coach at the Tokyo Olympics, Chopra qualified for the javelin final at the 2024 Paris Olympics with an impressive throw of 89.34 meters (293.11 feet), but he had to settle for silver in the final as his throw of 89.45 meters (293.47 feet) fell short of Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem’s Olympic record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters (305.02 feet).

After the Olympics defeat, breaching the 90-meter (295.28-foot) mark became crucial for Chopra. In November 2024 he enlisted Jan Železný—a three-time Olympic gold medalist and world record holder for the longest javelin throw—as his coach. Chopra finally broke past the barrier with a 90.23-meter (296.03-foot) throw in the Doha Diamond League in May 2025, though he finished second at the event. At the 2026 Commonwealth Games he was awarded the silver medal for a 85.83-meter (281.59 feet) throw. He has won multiple sports and Indian government awards, including the Padma Shri (India’s fourth highest civilian award) in 2022, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (India’s highest sports award; formerly the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award) in 2021, and the Arjuna Award in 2018. He also received the Vishisht Seva Medal (2020) and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2022), two of India’s peacetime military awards. The following table lists some of Chopra’s key athletic achievements.