Neeraj Chopra was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards after winning a gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo.

India’s Olympic gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has been selected as one of the six Nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.

A gold medal winner in the javelin in Tokyo, Chopra is one of only two Indians to have won an individual Olympic gold medal; the other is Abhinav Bindra, who won a gold in the air rifle in 2008.

Neeraj is only the third Indian sportsman to be nominated for a Laureus Award, after wrestler Vinesh Phogat in 2019 and the great cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who won the Laureus Sports Moment Award 2000-2020 for India’s emotional lap of honour following the 2011 ICC World Cup.

Tendulkar was celebrating his victory in 2011, while Chopra was just beginning to go to a gym in order to improve his fitness. There, he saw athletes practising the javelin, which sparked his interest. His career took off when he won the gold medal at the 2016 World Under-20 Championships.

Among others, he was clubbed with tennis stars Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu. With a throw of 87.58 metres in his second attempt, 23-year-old Chopra became only the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal. He was made into a superstar in India and praised all over the world for the performance.

Laureus World Sports Awards nominees have been selected by a panel of more than 1,300 leading sports journalists and broadcasters. After a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, consisting of 71 of the world’s greatest athletes, the winners will be announced in April.

“…it’s a great honour for me to be recognised in the wider sporting world for what I achieved in Tokyo. From being a kid in a small village in rural India who only took up sport to get fit, to standing on top of an Olympic podium, it’s been quite an eventful journey so far,” Chopra said in a statement issued by The Laureus Academy.

The Laureus Sport for Good Award recognizes a community sports-based program which has helped to improve the lives of young people and bring communities together. Because of the ongoing limitations and uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2022 Awards will build on the success of Laureus’ 2021 ‘virtual’ Awards. There will be fierce competition for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.