Indian Army to Olympic gold: India Javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra's lesser known journey in pictures

Neeraj Chopra won gold in the javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Saturday. He became the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics after Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won it in Beijing in 2008.

Let's take a look at his journey from Indian army to Olympics gold-medalist: 

Neeraj Chopra comes from a humble background and is a son of a farmer from Haryana. Neeraj hails from Panipat and has graduated from DAV College from Chandigarh. 

In 2016, Neeraj Chopra was appointed as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army. He a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army. "The golden victory of Subedar Neeraj Chopra at the Olympic brings laurels for the Indian Army. He performed like a true soldier at the Olympics. It is indeed a historic and proud moment for the entire country including the Indian Armed Forces! Many congratulations to him," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted
 

In the year 2016, he won the junior world title and became the first Indian to win gold. He also set a world junior record with a throw of 86.48 m, however, failed to make it to Rio Olympics. 

Not only Olympics, but Neeraj Chopra is also the first Indian javelin thrower to have won gold at Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in the year 2018.

According to his bio on Olympics official page, Chopra entered the sport in 2011 after watching people practice. 

In 2019, Neeraj Chopra went through an elbow surgery. After months rehabilition and practicing he bounced back and broke the national record in 2021 with a throw of 88m. 

State government of Haryana announced a cash price of Rs 6 crore for the player. Indian Olympics Association, earlier, had decided to reward Rs 75 lakhs for gold medalists from India. BCCI has announced a cash reward of Rs 1 crore.