Moments after Indian Athlete Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, Manipur government announced a huge reward for the young Javelin Throw star of India as an honour.
The Manipur state cabinet has announced a reward of Rs 1 Crore for the 23 year old gold medallist of Tokyo Olympics 2020 moments after he gifted his nation the much awaited prize possession.
Neeraj is the 2nd individual Olympic gold medallist from India after Abhinav Bindra who grabbed a gold for the country in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh tweeted, "On this historic day where India bagged an Olympic Gold medal in an athletic event after 100 years, the Manipur State Cabinet has decided to honour the Javelin throw Gold medalist @Neeraj_chopra1 by extending a reward of Rs 1 Crore. Congratulations on this historic win, Neeraj."
Neeraj Chopra has created history in Indian athletics by fetching a medal at Olympic Games after nearly 121 years. Norman Pritchard claimed the 200m silver on July 22, 1900 in the Javelin Throw. Chopra has also become the second Indian to win a gold in an individual Olympic event.
In the men's javelin throw final where the top eight get six throws each, Chopra in his splendid performance was leading since the first round.
Considered as one of the best Javelin players globally, the 23-year-old is an Indian track and field athlete and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army. He hurled the javelin at 88.07m to break his own national record. Chopra's previous best was the 88.06m gold-medal winning throw at the 2018 Asian Games.
Neeraj hails from Panipat in Haryana.