Neeraj Chopra is widely regarded as the greatest Indian athlete of all time, holding gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and the Asian Games in the javelin throw competition. The 25-year-old qualified for the Olympics for the second straight time at the Paris 2024 after making it to the final of the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest, getting past the 85.50m qualification mark.
The Khandra-born athlete won the world title for the first time in his career last year with a throw of 88.17m at the World Athletics Championships, making history by becoming the first Indian to do so. Earlier, in May of 2023, Neeraj Chopra finished in first place in the highly prestigious Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.67m.
This led to Neeraj Chopra achieving the number one spot in the men’s javelin throw rankings, which are issued by the World Athletics. Shortly after winning the world title in August of 2023, he went on to win back-to-back gold medals for India at the Asian Games in Hangzhou with a throw of 88.88m.
In the build-up to Paris 2024, Neeraj Chopra suffered a couple of injury setbacks, which led to him withdrawing from a few events. In between, during the Diamond League final in the latter half of last year, he finished in second place. With that, the Indian athlete is in great form in select competitions he participated in, raising hopes for another highly successful season this year.
Moreover, Neeraj Chopra’s personal best came two years ago during the Stockholm Diamond League, where he clinched second place with a massive throw of 89.94m, nearly going past the magical 90m barrier. The Indian track-and-field athlete will be looking to achieve this milestone in Paris 2024, which could be enough for him to win back-to-back gold medals at the Olympic Games.