How Neeraj Chopra became the biggest name in Indian athletics

Neeraj Chopra has become a household name in India especially after his stupendous performance in the recently concluded Olympics 2020 where he bagged the nation’s first medal and that too gold for the first time in the history of Indian athletics.

There have been occasions in the past where stalwarts like Milkha Singh and PT Usha came quite close to winning medals in the Olympics held in 1960 and 1984 respectively and their dream was finally fulfilled by Harayana boy who took up the sport initially to reduce his overweight but slowly and steadily started developing an inclination towards the sport.

Due to COVID restrictions, Chopra didn’t get too many competitions under his belt for complete 1 year but the moments when he was allowed to travel to a foreign country in order to prepare for the Olympics he picked and choose competition to keep his body fit and healthy ahead of the marquee event which took place on August 7^th, 2021.

Chopra has been giving interviews to different media outlets post his return from the Olympics and he has been appreciated by different state and central governments with cash rewards and prizes.

He is certainly one of the front runners to become the most marketable athletes in the future as every brand wants to associate themselves with the stature like Chopra who has taken Indian athletics to a whole new dimension by winning the second individual gold medal for India after Abhinav Bindra who won gold in 2008 in Beijing Olympics for Sports Shooting.

Truly humbled by this recognition, and hope it inspires many more athletes to make our nation proud 🇮🇳
Thank you, ASI Pune 🙏@adgpi pic.twitter.com/nrI4wSe9CQ

— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 27, 2021

An Army Sports Institue in Pune has been named after him and since he is Subedar in the Indian army he was delighted to announce that news to his fans through his social media platform. Javelin is a sport that is bound to rise now especially after the achievements of Chopra as well as Para athletes like Sumit Antil, Devendra Jhajariya, and Sundar Singh Gurjar who clinched Gold, Silver, and Bronze respectively in the ongoing marquee event.

Para Gold medal winner Sumit Antil said in his interview while talking to different media outlets that he was inspired by Chopra.

There will be many medals which India will win in future Olympics but the one who ignited the dreams in the mind of budding Javelin thrower in the country will be none other than Neeraj Chopra.