Neeraj Chopra is India’s most successful track and field athlete, and his journey from a small village in Haryana to Olympic gold is one of the most followed stories in Indian sport. Here is a complete look at his background, records, and biggest wins.
Early Life
Neeraj Chopra was born on December 24, 1997, in Khandra village near Panipat, Haryana, to a family of farmers. As a child, he was overweight, which pushed his family to encourage him toward sport. He began training at Shivaji Stadium in Panipat before moving to the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, where he trained under coach Naseem Ahmad. He later graduated from Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College in Chandigarh. For more on how his coaching has evolved since then, see Neeraj Chopra’s training routine.
Career Breakthrough
Chopra’s first major title came in 2016, when he won gold at the South Asian Games. That same year, he set a world under-20 record with an 86.48 metre throw at the World U20 Championships in Poland, a result that put him on the global radar for the first time.
Major Titles And Records
– 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast: gold medal with a throw of 86.47 metres, his first major multi-sport title
– 2018 Asian Games, Jakarta: gold medal with a throw of 88.06 metres
– 2020 Tokyo Olympics: gold medal with a throw of 87.58 metres, India’s first-ever Olympic medal in track and field
– 2022 Diamond League: won the overall Diamond League trophy, another first for an Indian athlete
– 2023 World Athletics Championships, Budapest: gold medal with 88.17 metres, India’s first world title in senior athletics
– 2024 Paris Olympics: silver medal with 89.45 metres, his second consecutive Olympic medal
– 2025 Doha Diamond League: personal best and national record of 90.23 metres, becoming the first Indian to cross the 90 metre mark
See our full medal timeline since the Tokyo Olympics for how these results connect year by year.
Career Path And Army Role
Alongside his athletics career, Chopra serves as a junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army. In 2018, he received the Arjuna Award, one of India’s top sporting honours. In November 2024, he added three-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny to his coaching team, alongside long-time biomechanics coach Klaus Bartonietz.
Why His Records Matter
Chopra is the only Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic medal, and the only one to do so twice. He is also India’s first world champion in senior athletics and the first Indian javelin thrower to pass 90 metres. Across his career since 2012, he has competed in more than 80 finals and won a large share of them outright. For a deeper look at why this record stands out, read why Neeraj Chopra is India’s greatest javelin thrower.
What Comes Next
As of the 2026 season, Chopra is competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, aiming to add a second Commonwealth title to a list of achievements that already includes almost every major honour available in his sport.