Neeraj Chopra put in a stunning performance to win India’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics. The 23-year-old registered a best attempt of 87.58m to finish ahead of Czech Republic duo of Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely. It was India’s first gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics and also the country’s second individual gold medal in its Olympic history after Abhinav Bindra’s heroics in Beijing 2008. With his historic effort, he also took India’s medal haul to seven in the ongoing Games – the country’s highest ever, beating the tally of six medals won at the London Games in 2012.
Neeraj Chopra is from Khandra village, Panipat district, Haryana. He was educated at DAV College, Chandigarh. In 2016, he was appointed a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army with the rank of Naib Subedar. On 31 March 2020, he donated Rs. 2 Lakh in PM Cares Fund for COVID-19 pandemic.
