{"id":"path/neeraj-chopra","kind":"path","v":1,"title":"Neeraj Chopra","line":"A gym for his weight, then Olympic gold","aliases":[],"tags":["type:public","category:sports","career:defence-officer"],"facts":[{"label":"Now","value":"Javelin thrower · Olympic and world champion","trust":"community","source":0},{"label":"Started from","value":"Khandra, Panipat, Haryana","trust":"community","source":0},{"label":"Turns","value":"8","trust":"community","source":0},{"label":"Kind of path","value":"Public figure, from public sources","trust":"community","source":0}],"data":{"id":"neeraj-chopra","name":"Neeraj Chopra","initials":"NC","type":"public","headline":"A gym for his weight, then Olympic gold","now":"Javelin thrower · Olympic and world champion","from":"Khandra, Panipat, Haryana","careers":["defence-officer"],"category":"sports","photo":{"url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Neeraj_Chopra_Olympic_gold_medalist.jpg","width":400,"height":544,"author":"DD News (Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India)","license":"CC BY 4.0","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0","source":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neeraj_Chopra_Olympic_gold_medalist.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Public interviews and widely reported profiles; not affiliated or endorsed","trust":"community"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Neeraj Chopra","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neeraj_Chopra","trust":"community"},{"label":"The Tribune: Neeraj Chopra conferred rank of Lt Colonel (2025)","url":"https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sports/star-javelin-thrower-neeraj-chopra-conferred-rank-of-lt-colonel/","trust":"community"}],"turns":[{"id":"nc1","kind":"skill","title":"Takes up javelin","where":"SAI centre, Panipat · coach Jaiveer Singh","year":"2010","how":"took","note":"Teased about his weight, he joined a gym, saw javelin throwers at Shivaji Stadium and tried it."},{"id":"nc2","kind":"life","title":"Moves to Panchkula at 13","where":"Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex","year":"age 13","how":"took","note":"There was no javelin coach, so he learned from videos of Jan Železný."},{"id":"nc3","kind":"skill","title":"World U20 champion","where":"86.48 m · world junior record","year":"2016","how":"took","alsoOpen":[{"title":"Rio 2016 Olympics","kind":"work","status":"out of reach","reason":"The throw came after the qualifying cut-off"}]},{"id":"nc4","kind":"work","title":"Joins the Indian Army","where":"Naib Subedar (JCO), Rajputana Rifles","year":"2016","how":"took","note":"Recruited for his sport; trained at the Army Sports Institute, Pune."},{"id":"nc5","kind":"life","title":"Elbow surgery","where":"Missed the 2019 World Championships","year":"2019","how":"detour","note":"About 16 months away from international events.","reroute":{"risk":"An elbow injury, and a World Championships missed","level":"high","move":"backtrack","options":[{"label":"Surgery, then back to throwing","taken":true,"note":"About 16 months away"}]}},{"id":"nc6","kind":"work","title":"Olympic gold","where":"Tokyo · India's first in athletics","year":"2021","how":"took"},{"id":"nc7","kind":"study","title":"BA","where":"Lovely Professional University","year":"from 2021","how":"took","note":"A degree alongside competing."},{"id":"nc8","kind":"work","title":"Javelin thrower","where":"World champion 2023 · Paris silver 2024 · honorary Lt Col","year":"now","how":"now"}]},"links":[{"rel":"career","id":"career/defence-officer"}],"sources":[{"label":"Public interviews and widely reported profiles; not affiliated or endorsed","trust":"community","method":"listed"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Neeraj Chopra","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neeraj_Chopra","trust":"community","method":"listed"},{"label":"The Tribune: Neeraj Chopra conferred rank of Lt Colonel (2025)","url":"https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sports/star-javelin-thrower-neeraj-chopra-conferred-rank-of-lt-colonel/","trust":"community","method":"listed"}],"trust":"community","origin":"dataset","asOf":"2026-10-15","digest":"sha256:c5b28af93da4723d601f5b332d84d2bb940f5f06b169afb38a6bf3769d0e9842"}