India is on fire right now!
We have won our 1st ever Athletics Gold medal in Olympics, and India’s 2nd ever individual Gold medal, when Neeraj Chopra threw the javelin 87.58m away at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Hailing from Panipat in Haryana, Neeraj has made the entire country jump with joy and ecstasy, as the National Anthem was played at an Olympics after 13 long years.
Here are 7 unknown facts about Neeraj Chopra that will surely surprise you!
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#1 Joined Sports To Lose Weight
At 13 years of age, Neeraj was under tremendous pressure to lose weight. And he was very naughty as well. He used to throw stones at bee hives near the river of his village, and this caused much problems.
His father decided to channelize this energy, and his skills, and pushed him to try sports to not only lose weight, but also learn a skill. A national level javelin thrower was living at a nearby village, and then he joined a sports academy, and the rest is history.
#2 Neeraj Is An Army Subedar
Neeraj Arora joined Indian Army in 2016 as Junior Commissioned Officer. Right now, he is a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army.
#3 World Record Holder
Before this Olympic Gold at Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra had already set the sporting scene on fire with some incredible achievements. He won Gold at Junior world championships in 2016 with an Under-20 world record of 86.48m, which is still a world record.
#4 Other Gold Medals
Besides the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra won Gold at Junior world championships in 2016, 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games,and finished top in the 2017 Asian Championships.
#5 Arjuna Award Winner
Neeraj Chopra won the Arjuna Award in 2018, after this incredible performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He won the award under ‘Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games’ category, and was awarded by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
#6 Recovered From Injury
Just the day after qualifying for Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj suffered an elbow injury, and underwent a surgery on May 2, 2019. For next 16 months, he recovered by practicing meditation and rehabilitative training at Patiala and the IIS Vijayanagar.
#7 Lived The Quote
In his village home at Panipat, there is a quote that is hanging in the drawing room: “A single idea can light up your life.”. Neeraj has lived that quote, and proved that whatever you do, be the best version of that.
Destiny will have to auto-correct itself.
Big congratulations to Neeraj Chopra for making the entire India proud!
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