Here's a look into the journey of Indian athlete, Neeraj Chopra, who became the first Indian to win a gold medal in Men's javelin throw at the World Athletics Championship 2023.
Neeraj Chopra has been among the biggest names in the men’s javelin throw in recent years. For instance, on August 27, 2023, Neeraj won the gold medal in the Men’s javelin throw at the World Athletics Championship 2023. In the final showdown, the Indian athlete launched a javelin to a distance of 88.17 meters, which is the highest record number in the World Athletics Championship.
With his major win on the global stage, Neeraj Chopra also became the first-ever Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championship. For the unversed, Neeraj secured a silver medal at the World Athletics Championship in 2022. The athlete was pumped up and wanted to win gold this time at the WAC 2023. Well, all credit to his efforts, he made it possible and that too in style.
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Apart from making India’s mark on the global stage, Neeraj Chopra never skips a chance to promote the beautiful message of sportsmanship. Time and again, we have seen him helping his fellow athletes. A glimpse of what we saw once again at the World Athletics Championship when Pakistan’s athlete, Arshad Nadeem, who won the silver medal, didn’t have his country’s flag at the event and it was Neeraj, who helped him out with a kind gesture.
As soon as Neeraj Chopra spotted fellow athlete, Arshad Nadeem without his country’s flag, he immediately invited him to pose with him, and the beautiful gesture broke the internet. The heartwarming video of Neeraj and Nadeem posing with India’s flag is one of the best moments in sports history.
Click here to watch the video.
Apart from being an exceptional athlete, this is why Neeraj is admired not just by his fellow citizens but also by the people worldwide. No doubt, the golden boy of India continues to write history with his participation in every competition. But there are so many unknown facts about Neeraj’s success story that every aspiring athlete should know. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some inspiring things about Neeraj Chopra’s life.
Neeraj Chopra was born on December 24, 1997, in a Haryanvi Ror family in Haryana’s Khandra. The Indian athlete’s father, Satish Kumar is a farmer, while his mother, Saroj Devi is a homemaker. Neeraj has two sisters. However, not much info about them is on the public portal. There’s no denying the fact that Neeraj’s parents deserve all the credit for his monumental success in athletics, as they always supported him despite belonging to a lower-middle-class family.
As per multiple reports, Neeraj Chopra completed his schooling at the BVN Public School in Haryana. The athlete graduated from the famous Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Chandigarh. Not everyone knows that Neeraj is reportedly pursuing a Bachelor of Arts from the famous Lovely Professional University, Punjab.
On August 7, 2021, Neeraj Chopra won India’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after he finished the tournament with 87.58 meters. Soon after his historic win at the Olympics, in an interview with a news channel, Neeraj’s mother, Saroj Devi opened up about the exact moment when her son had chosen javelin throw.
Opening up about the same, the doting mother, Saroj Devi revealed that once, during her visit to the Shivaji stadium with Neeraj, the latter saw some athletes practising with javelin, and he decided to try it once. As soon as he held the javelin and launched it for the first time in his life, he knew that it was where he wanted to put all his energy and life.
Neeraj Chopra has become one of the most famous athletes in the world. With his recent wins in international tournaments, he has created a massive global fanbase. However, not everyone knows that Neeraj never fails to credit his coaches, who played a huge role in his success as an athlete. As per multiple reports, there are six gurus of Neeraj Chopra so far.
Starting with Jaiveer Singh, who spotted Neeraj and helped him get proper coaching when he was just starting as a javelin thrower. Second on the list is Naseem Ahmed, who was his coach at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, as he made him understand the technicalities of the javelin throw. Next comes the coach, Gary Calvert and his assistant, Kashinath Naik, who helped Neeraj Chopra shape his career after winning the gold medal at the World U20 Championships in Poland.
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Astonishingly, Neeraj Chopra has also worked with German legend, Uwe Hohn, who is regarded as one of the greatest athletes ever, and the experience of working with such a huge personality indeed made a tremendous improvement in Neeraj’s game. In 2019, Neeraj started getting coaching from Klaus Bartonietz, and the biomechanics expert significantly impacted Neeraj’s game, which was reflected in Neeraj’s game as he won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Once, in an interview with the Indian Express, Neeraj Chopra opened up about his success on the biggest stage, the Olympics. In response to the same, the history-maker athlete revealed that he has no secret recipe for success. However, according to him, Neeraj admitted that there is only one mantra for success. Revealing the same, he stated that every person should believe in themselves, whether they are athletes or not. They should have faith in their ability and have the feeling to make their country proud. He said:
"Lastly and most importantly, believe in yourself. Have faith in your own ability, and your ability to do well for yourself and for your country."
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Fitness is the backbone of any athlete or sportsperson in the world. Well, in Neeraj Chopra’s case, the Indian athlete follows a strict diet as everyone is aware of the fact that when Neeraj was young, he was an obese child, but with hard work and consistency, he managed to shrug off all the extra kilos that were on his way to greatness. As of now, he is one of the fittest athletes in the world. Well, the two major factors behind such transformation are diet and workout.
Talking about Neeraj Chopra’s diet, he maintains a body fat percentage of around 10%. With more emphasis on fruits and protein, Neeraj takes a good amount of macronutrients responsible for muscle growth. As per reports, he starts his day with coconut water or juice. Neeraj takes four egg whites, a bowl of Dalia, a few fruits and two slices of bread for breakfast. For lunch, he consumes rice, curd, grilled chicken, pulses, and salad. For evening snacks, he relies on dry fruits and almonds. For dinner, Neeraj prefers boiled vegetables, fruits and soup.
Neeraj Chopra’s workout mainly focuses on building strength in his upper and lower body. With strength training, cable pull exercises, lying oblique crunches, Swiss ball crunches, weighted lunges, time circuits, Tabata workout, and much more to achieve strength and flexibility.
We hope Neeraj Chopra continues to lift the Indian tricolour in the world’s biggest tournaments.
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