Neeraj Chopra won the Gold medal in Men's Javelin at the Tokyo Olympics, ending India's long wait for an Olympic medal in track and field. With his win, Neeraj fulfilled the late legendary Milkha Singh’s dream.
Milkha frequently used to express his desire to see an Indian athlete win the Olympic medal he lost in the 1960 Olympics. He even mentioned a few young athletes during one of his interactions that he wished to see as an Indian Olympic medalist in track and field before he died.
"Milkha Singh wanted to hear the national anthem played at a stadium." Chopra dedicated his gold to the legendary sprinter who placed fourth in the 1960 Rome Olympics. "He is no longer with us, but his dream has been fulfilled," Chopra said.
Milkha Singh's son, star golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, reacted by saying that his family will be eternally thankful for Chopra's gesture. "Not only did you win us our first-ever gold medal in athletics at the #OlympicGames, but you also dedicated it to my father. The Milkha family is eternally grateful for this honour," he said on Twitter.
As Neeraj threw 87.58 metres in his second try at the javelin throw final, India’s 120 year-long wait came to an end.
“HazaaroN saal nargis apni be noori pe roti hai...Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman mein deedawar paida.”- by Allama Iqbal which means for a thousand years the narcissus has been lamenting its blindness; With great difficulty, the one with true vision is born in the garden.
The Haryana athlete, who is a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army, clinched the gold in javelin throw with an attempt of 87.58 metres, becoming only the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first athlete in Independent India to win a medal in a track & field event at the quadrangular event, the Indian Army said.
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Chopra was born on December 24, 1997 into a family of farmers in the small village of Khandar in Panipat district in Haryana.
His father, Satish Kumar, is a farmer and mother, Saroj Devi, is a housewife. He grew up along with his two sisters.
Chopra took to javelin throw to reduce his weight and he quickly took a liking for the sport. The rest is now history.
He came into prominence with his performance at the U-20 World Championship in Poland in 2016 where he set a new junior world record with a throw of 86.48m. He then won the Asian Championship in 2017 in Bhubaneswar with a throw of 85.23m.
Neeraj then started training under the legendary Uwe Hohn of Germany and won the gold in Commonwealth Games in 2018 with a throw of 86.47m before throwing his personal best of 87.43m in the Doha leg of Diamond League in the same year. He also won gold at the Asian Games in 2018 with a throw of 88.06m.
Chopra was enrolled in 4 Rajputana Rifles as a direct entry Naib Subedar on May 15, 2016. After joining the Indian Army, he was selected for training in the Mission Olympics Wing and Army Sports Institute, Pune.
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Mission Olympics Wing is a premier initiative of Indian Army to identify and train elite sportsmen in 11 selected disciplines at five Mission Olympics Nodes to excel in various national
and international competitions.
Mission Olympics Wing has given two Olympic silver medals in shooting to the nation and is committed for many more.
Subedar Chopra's medal highlights the hard work and efforts of Mission Olympics Wing.
Chopra was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2018 and the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) in 2020 for his excellence in sports.