Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete who competes in the men's javelin throw. He is India's first Olympic champion in athletics and one of the country's most successful individual athletes on the international stage.
Chopra won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, followed by silver at Paris 2024. He also became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships, achieving the feat in Budapest in 2023.
Neeraj Chopra was born on December 24, 1997, in Khandra village in Haryana.
As a child, Chopra participated in sports including kabaddi and volleyball. He began training in javelin after visiting a stadium in Panipat, initially as part of an effort to improve his fitness. He soon developed an interest in the event and began making rapid progress.
His breakthrough came at the 2016 World U20 Championships, where he won gold and set a world U20 record of 86.48m at the time.
Chopra's rise continued at the senior level.
In 2017, he won gold at the Asian Athletics Championships. The following year, he won Commonwealth Games gold in Gold Coast and Asian Games gold in Jakarta.
His winning throw of 88.06m at the 2018 Asian Games established him as one of Asia's leading javelin throwers.
The defining moment of Chopra's career came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021.
He produced a throw of 87.58m to win the men's javelin title, becoming India's first Olympic gold medallist in athletics. The achievement made him only the second Indian individual Olympic champion after shooter Abhinav Bindra.
Chopra reached another historic milestone at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
With a throw of 88.17m, he won gold in the men's javelin throw and became the first Indian to win a World Athletics Championships gold medal.
World Athletics also noted that he became the first Asian athlete to win the men's world javelin title.
At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Chopra successfully defended his Asian Games title.
He won gold with a throw of 88.88m, finishing ahead of fellow Indian javelin thrower Kishore Jena, who won silver with 87.54m.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Chopra entered the competition as the reigning Olympic champion.
He finished second with a best throw of 89.45m, winning his second Olympic medal. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold with an Olympic-record throw of 92.97m.
Chopra's Paris result made him India's first track-and-field athlete to win medals at two Olympic Games.
Chopra recorded his first 90-metre-plus throw in 2025, producing a personal best of 90.23m in Doha.
His progression includes:
1997 — Born in Khandra, Haryana 🇮🇳
2016 — 🥇 World U20 Champion
2017 — 🥇 Asian Athletics Champion
2018 — 🥇 Commonwealth Games Champion
2018 — 🥇 Asian Games Champion
2021 — 🥇 Olympic Champion at Tokyo 2020
2022 — 🥈 World Championships silver
2023 — 🥇 World Athletics Champion
2023 — 🥇 Asian Games Champion
2024 — 🥈 Olympic silver at Paris 2024
2025 — 🏹 Set personal best of 90.23m
Neeraj Chopra's career has transformed the profile of javelin throwing and athletics in India.
From his World U20 breakthrough to Olympic gold, World Championship gold and multiple Asian titles, Chopra has built a career defined by major international medals and consistent performances at the highest level. World Athletics describes his 2023 World Championship victory as India's first gold in the history of the championships.
Age: 29
Gender: Male
