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Watch: Neeraj Chopra conferred honorary lieutenant colonel rank in Indian Army
Neeraj Chopra, Olympic gold medallist in javelin, was awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army during a ceremony in Delhi.
Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was on Wednesday conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. The ceremony took place in the presence of defence minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi in Delhi.
The recognition honours Neeraj Chopra’s exceptional achievements in athletics and his contribution to inspiring millions of young Indians. He joins a select group of sportspersons who have received honorary ranks in the armed forces for bringing glory to the nation.
Watch the video here:
According to The Gazette of India, the appointment took effect on April 16. Neeraj joined the Indian Army as a junior commissioned officer in the rank of naib subedar on August 26, 2016.
He was awarded the Arjuna Award for his exploits in athletics two years later and then received the Khel Ratna for his performances in the field of sports in 2021.
Neeraj was also promoted to the rank of subedar in 2021. Following his historic gold medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the 27-year-old Indian athlete was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal by the Indian Army in 2022.
He was promoted to the rank of subedar major in 2022, and the Indian javelin throw ace also became a recipient of the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, in the same year.
Neeraj recently failed to defend his world title in javelin throw and finished in eighth spot with the best throw of 84.03 metres in the World Athletics Championships, ending his 26-event streak of top two finishes.
His compatriot Sachin Yadav outclassed him with a fourth-place finish and fell short of a medal with the best throw of 86.27 metres.
Following his eighth-place finish, Neeraj expressed surprise at his underwhelming performance, saying that he had some back problems, but admitted that it is “life and sports” after all.
Neeraj's hot-streak of 26 top-two finishes since 2021 Kourtane Games - the event that immediately preceded his historic gold medal at Tokyo 2020, ended with a dissapointing eighth place finish at the marquee event.
The last time the Indian superstar had finished outside the top three in a competition was the 2018 Continental Cup in Czechia, when he finished sixth.
