Olympic hero Neeraj Chopra conferred honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Territorial Army

Neeraj Chopra

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Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra has been conferred with the honourary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday, May 14. The appointment came into effect on April 16, a statement said.

"No 3 (E) dated 9 May 2025 in exercise of the powers conferred by Para 31 of the Territorial Army Regulations, 1948, the president is pleased to confer Honorary Rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Territorial Army on sEx-Sub Maj Neeraj Chopra, PVSM, Padma Shri, VSM, Village & Post Office Khandra, Panipat, Haryana with effect from 16 April, 2025," the statement from the Ministry of Defence read.

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Interestingly, Neeraj Chopra was earlier enrolled as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the rank of Naib Subedar in the Indian Army on August 26, 2016. He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal by the 4 Rajputana Rifles for his distinguished service in January 22, months after he won the historic gold in men's javelin at the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2022, the former World Champion was also named recipient of the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India.

The javelin thrower will start his season on Friday at the Doha Diamond League, following which he will compete at the 71st Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour (Silver Level) meet in Chorzow, Poland, on May 23.

Neeraj is also set to participate in the Ostrava Golden Spike 2025 athletics meet in the Czech Republic city on June 24, hoping to be third-time lucky after pulling out in the last two editions due to injuries.

He was originally set to be the face of the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on May 24 before it was indefinitely suspended due to India-Pakistan border tensions.