Neeraj Chopra: With World Championship Gold, India's Javelin Great Completes A Full Circle At Just 25

25 is when dreams start to take wings for most. For some super-special individuals, like Neeraj Chopra, by that age you conquer all that is out there to be conquered. With his maiden World Athletics Championship gold in javelin throw that he won with an attempt of 88.17m at the 2023 edition late on Sunday night in Budapest, Hungary, the Haryana-born athlete has reached a stupendous height that will be hard to match for generations to come. With his first World Championship gold medal, which was the only major missing piece in his already envious trophy cabinet, Chopra has completed a full circle.

He is the reigning Olympic champion - the first Indian sportsperson to win a gold medal at the Games in athletics (field events). Now, Chopra is the first from the country to win a gold medal at World Athletics Championship. Till now, the silver medal that he won in 2022 was India's best return from the World Athletics Championships after Anju Bobby George's bronze medal in the women's long jump back in 2003 at Paris.

Chopra has an Asian Games gold medal and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. He is a Diamond League champion too. Add to it, the U20 World Championship gold medal that he won in 2016. Neeraj is truly the golden boy of Indian sport.

Chopra is now the second Indian, after Abhinav Bindra, to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships title. Bindra won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25.

The Rise

To think that Chopra took up javelin almost by chance is another fascinating story. In 2011, a then 14-tear-old Chopra weighed 85kg. He was obese and his family somehow convinced his to join a gym. From his village in Khandra,  Haryana, he used to go to Panipat, situated 17km