Athletics in India: Neeraj Chopra and the Golden Era of Track and Field

On August 7, 2021, at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the entire Indian nation held its breath and then erupted in an explosion of joy that reverberated from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Neeraj Chopra — a 23-year-old javelin thrower from Panipat in Haryana — launched his javelin 87.58 metres into the Tokyo sky and became the first Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. In doing so, he ended India's 13-year wait for an individual Olympic gold medal and opened a new chapter in Indian sporting history that is still being written with growing excitement and ambition.

🏃 A Century of Indian Athletics

India's relationship with track and field athletics at the Olympics has been a story of heartbreaking near-misses, occasional brilliance, and long periods of underachievement that frustrated a nation that knew it had the potential to do so much more. The story begins with Milkha Singh — "The Flying Sikh" — who was so fast and so graceful in his running that a generation of Indians grew up believing he was the greatest runner in the world. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Milkha Singh finished fourth in the 400 metres final, missing the bronze medal by just 0.1 seconds — 1/10th of a second — in one of the most agonising results in Indian Olympic history.

PT Usha — "The Payyoli Express" — came even closer to Olympic glory at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics when she missed the 400 metres hurdles bronze medal by 1/100th of a second — 0.01 seconds — after crossing the line in fourth place. For many Indians of that generation, PT Usha's near-miss represents the definitive symbol of Indian athletics' tortured relationship with Olympic success: always talented enough to be there, never quite fortunate or supported enough to stand on the podium. Usha won numerous Asian Games gold medals and Asian Championship titles, making her the greatest female Indian track and field athlete of the 20th century, but the Olympic medal she so richly deserved eluded her forever.

🏅 The 0.01 Second Gap: PT Usha's 1984 miss by 1/100th of a second remains one of the most discussed moments in Indian Olympic history. It represents not just personal heartbreak but the story of an entire athletic system that was not yet good enough to give its most talented athletes the support they needed to reach the very top.

🌟 Neeraj Chopra — India's First Olympic Track and Field Champion

Neeraj Chopra's story begins in Khandra village in Panipat district, Haryana — not a region traditionally associated with athletics excellence. As a teenager, Neeraj was overweight and took up javelin throwing on the advice of a physical education instructor who thought the activity would help him get fit. Within a year, it was clear that he had exceptional natural talent for the event. His arm speed, the fluidity of his approach run, and his instinctive feel for the javelin set him apart from every other young Indian javelin thrower immediately.

He first came to national attention in 2016 when he broke the world junior javelin record with a throw of 86.48 metres at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland — winning the gold medal and announcing himself as a genuine future star of world athletics. He then joined the Indian Army, which provided him with the structured support, training resources, and financial security that allowed him to develop into an elite international athlete without the financial pressures that derail so many promising Indian athletes.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj's first-round throw of 87.58 metres — which was his second-best ever performance at that point — proved to be enough for gold. No other athlete in the final came close to matching it. His composure in the final — making that enormous first-round throw and then maintaining his composure and consistency through the remaining rounds — showed the complete athletic and mental package of a genuine Olympic champion. Back in India, the celebrations were extraordinary: streets were decorated, sweets were distributed, and Neeraj became an overnight national hero in the fullest sense of the word.

🏆 Neeraj's Continuing Dominance

What has made Neeraj Chopra's career so remarkable is not just the Olympic gold but the consistency and growth that followed it. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, he won the silver medal — India's first ever World Championship medal in a track and field event. He then became India's first ever World Athletics Championship gold medallist at the 2023 Budapest World Championships, throwing 88.17 metres to win in dominant fashion. He has won the Diamond League title — the premier annual competition series in world athletics — and consistently ranks among the top three or four javelin throwers in the world across an entire season.

Neeraj's impact on Indian athletics extends far beyond his own achievements. His visibility, his commercial success, his articulate English-language media presence, and the sheer drama of his Olympic gold have inspired a new generation of young Indians to take up track and field athletics. The number of young athletes registering for Athletics Federation of India events has increased dramatically since 2021, and several states that previously showed little interest in athletics have launched dedicated javelin training programmes in their sports schools.

⭐ India's Growing Athletics Talent Pool

Avinash Sable is one of the most exciting distance runners India has ever produced. In 2020, he broke Milkha Singh's 55-year-old Indian national record in the 5000 metres — an achievement that symbolised perfectly the new era of Indian athletics. He has also broken the national record in the 3000 metres steeplechase multiple times and qualified for the finals of major international championships, demonstrating that India can produce competitive middle-distance runners.

Hima Das — the "Dhing Express" from Assam — became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Under-20 Athletics Championships when she won the 400 metres at the 2018 Tampere event. Her raw speed, powerful running style, and infectious personality made her instantly popular across India and she became one of the country's most recognisable young athletes. Tajinderpal Singh Toor has broken the Asian record in the shot put multiple times and is a genuine global top-ten performer in his event. Dutee Chand, the sprinter from Odisha who overcame enormous adversity including a legal battle over her right to compete, has been a consistent finalist at Asian Athletics Championships and has broken national records in the 100 and 200 metres.

💪 The Support Systems Behind the Success

The improvement in Indian athletics performance in recent years is not accidental — it is the result of deliberate policy choices and investment. The Government of India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), which provides elite athletes with customised financial support for training camps, coaching, equipment, sports science, and competition travel, has been crucial in bridging the gap between India's athletic talent and the international standards of preparation needed to win at the Olympics and World Championships. Several Indian athletes — including Neeraj Chopra — have trained at specialist facilities in Europe and North America under world-class coaches as part of TOPS-funded programmes.

🎯 2036 Olympics Dream: India is a strong candidate to host the 2036 Olympic Games and the government has committed to building world-class athletics facilities across the country as part of the bid preparation. The combination of home advantage, improved infrastructure, and a generation of talented young athletes gives real grounds for optimism that India will win multiple athletics medals when the Games come home.