Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Bydgosczcz, Poland on 23rd July, 2016.
Chopra also threw 86.48 metres, which not only made him the Indian national record holder for Javelin Throw at the senior level, but also made him the first Indian to set a junior world record in athletics, a feat which had previously not been achieved.
The 20-year-old has since then improved his national record to 87.43 metres at the Doha Diamond League, finishing fourth behind the German trio of Thomas Rohler, Johannes Vetter and Andreas Hofmann.
The thrower from Haryana also won the Commonwealth Games title at Gold Coast in April 2018, throwing a 86.47 metres to win the competition. His first senior title came at the South Asian Games in Guwahati with a 82.23 metres throw in February 2016.
He followed that up with the Asian Athletics Championships title, throwing a 85.23 metres. The young thrower, though disappointed at the 2017 World Athletics Championships, finishing 15th and failing to qualify for the finals while fellow Indian Davinder Kang made it to the top 12.
The Indian national record holder has been training under Werner Daniels in Germany for the past few months and has been regularly featuring at Diamond League meets across the circuit.
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