Consistency has been the theme of Neeraj Chopra’s career. From the start of his journey, he has won key championships at regular intervals, culminating in his present day status as a global track star. Here are the highlights of his career.
Gold medal, World U-20 Championships 2016 The Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland is a tongue knotter of a detail. But if you are an Indian sports buff, you’d do well to remember it. This is where Neeraj Chopra’s emergence as an international level athlete started. He won the gold medal in the Under-20 World Championships and also set a world record for his age group, throwing 86.48m.
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Gold medal, Commonwealth Games 2018
This was a big year for Chopra, when he transitioned from being a junior star into a performer at the senior level as well. He was regularly crossing 80m, and had won three tournaments going into CWG 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia. He sealed the gold medal with his best throw of 86.47 m.
Gold medal, Asian Games 2018
Chopra continued his form in Jakarta, host of that year’s Asian Games. As is his habit, he made a statement with his very first throw, reaching 83.46m. But that big arm was just getting warmed up. An 88.06m on his third attempt reeled in the gold. The mark was also a national record at the time. The last Indian to win a javelin medal for India at the event before Chopra was Gurtej Singh, who won bronze at Delhi 1982.
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Gold medal, Olympics 2020
The Tokyo Olympics were actually held in 2021 due to Covid but are officially known as the 2020 Olympics. With that confusion out of the way, this is where Chopra became a legend. Only one Indian had won an individual gold medal at the Olympics before, shooter Abhinav Bindra in 2008. No one had ever won a track and field gold. Chopra changed that with a throw of 87.58m in the final.
Gold medal, World Athletics Championships, 2023
He had come close to winning a senior World Championship medal in Eugene last year. But a groin strain affected his performance, at least to some degree. No athlete is without some niggle and in Budapest on Sunday night, Chopra managed aches, pains and nerves to win the gold with a best throw of 88.17 metres.
