India at CWG 2026: Know Your Athlete - Neeraj Chopra (Athletics)
Event: Javelin
Personal Best: 90. 23m (NR)
CWG Record:
2018 Gold Coast: Gold
Major Achievements:
Olympics: Gold (Tokyo 2020), Silver (Paris 2024)
World Championships : Silver (2022 Eugene), Gold (2023 Budapest)
Asian Games : Gold (2018 Jakasta), Gold (2022 Hangzhou)
Few athletes have transformed Indian athletics like Neeraj Chopra . From becoming India's first Olympic champion in track and field to rewriting history on the world stage, the javelin superstar has built one of the most decorated careers in Indian sporting history.
Chopra announced himself to the world in 2016 when he won the World U20 Championships gold medal with a throw of 86. 48m, setting a world U20 record that still stands. The effort also made him the first Indian athlete to set a world record in athletics.
His defining breakthrough came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 (held after the COVID-19 delay), where he clinched the men's javelin gold to become the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics and the first Asian javelin thrower to claim Olympic gold. He also became only the second Indian, after Abhinav Bindra, to win an individual Olympic gold medal and remains the only Indian to achieve the feat on his Olympic debut.
Chopra continued to scale new heights by winning the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first Asian athlete to capture the men's javelin world title. His medal collection also includes golds at the Commonwealth Games , Asian Games, Asian Championships, and the prestigious Diamond League, firmly establishing him among the sport's global elite.
Adding another chapter to his remarkable career, Chopra claimed Olympic silver at Paris 2024, making him one of only five Indian athletes to win multiple individual Olympic medals.
Renowned for his remarkable consistency, Chopra finished in the top two in 26 consecutive competitions between June 2021 and September 2025, the second-longest such streak in men's javelin history, behind only world record holder Jan Železný.
Away from the field, Chopra has received some of India's highest sporting and civilian honours. He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2018, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021 and the Padma Shri in 2022.
Personal Best: 90. 23m (NR)
CWG Record:
2018 Gold Coast: Gold
Major Achievements:
Olympics: Gold (Tokyo 2020), Silver (Paris 2024)
World Championships : Silver (2022 Eugene), Gold (2023 Budapest)
Asian Games : Gold (2018 Jakasta), Gold (2022 Hangzhou)
Few athletes have transformed Indian athletics like Neeraj Chopra . From becoming India's first Olympic champion in track and field to rewriting history on the world stage, the javelin superstar has built one of the most decorated careers in Indian sporting history.
Chopra announced himself to the world in 2016 when he won the World U20 Championships gold medal with a throw of 86. 48m, setting a world U20 record that still stands. The effort also made him the first Indian athlete to set a world record in athletics.
His defining breakthrough came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 (held after the COVID-19 delay), where he clinched the men's javelin gold to become the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics and the first Asian javelin thrower to claim Olympic gold. He also became only the second Indian, after Abhinav Bindra, to win an individual Olympic gold medal and remains the only Indian to achieve the feat on his Olympic debut.
Chopra continued to scale new heights by winning the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first Asian athlete to capture the men's javelin world title. His medal collection also includes golds at the Commonwealth Games , Asian Games, Asian Championships, and the prestigious Diamond League, firmly establishing him among the sport's global elite.
Adding another chapter to his remarkable career, Chopra claimed Olympic silver at Paris 2024, making him one of only five Indian athletes to win multiple individual Olympic medals.
Renowned for his remarkable consistency, Chopra finished in the top two in 26 consecutive competitions between June 2021 and September 2025, the second-longest such streak in men's javelin history, behind only world record holder Jan Železný.
Away from the field, Chopra has received some of India's highest sporting and civilian honours. He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2018, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021 and the Padma Shri in 2022.
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