Hopefully, Neeraj’s year in 2023 will be as successful as previous years. On the occasion of his 25th birthday, let us look back at some of his most notable accomplishments throughout his illustrious career. Look at the images below.
1. Neeraj Chopra made headlines in Poland when he threw 86.48m at the World Junior Championships. This was also the new U-20 World Record at the time. With this performance, he made his mark in the world javelin, breaking the previous best record of 84.69m held by Latvia’s Zigismunds Sirmais.
2. Last year at the World Championships, Neeraj Chopra made history by becoming only the second Indian and the first male Track and Field athlete from India to win a medal. He finished second and won the silver medal with a throw of 88.13m, fulfilling his dream of winning a World medal. Anju Bobby George had won a bronze medal for India in the long jump event before Neeraj.
3. Who could forget Neeraj Chopra became India’s second individual gold medalist in the Olympic Games and the first Track and Field athlete to win a medal at the Games on August 7, 2021. At the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Neeraj did it with an iconic throw of 87.58m. In a country obsessed with cricket, he became a hero.
4. With the gold medal in his possession, Neeraj Chopra had an incredible year in 2021. But 2022 was just as good. He won silver at the World Athletics Championships and finished second in the Diamond League. He did it with a best throw of 89.94m, just missing the elusive mark of 90b by 0.6m. He finished second to Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who threw a distance of 90.31m.
5. Last year, Neeraj broke his national record twice and currently holds the male javelin record with a distance of 89.94m, which he threw in the Stockhold Diamond League. This year, he plans to break the elusive 90m mark, which signifies a javelin athlete’s greatness.
