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Neeraj Chopra conferred with Lieutenant Colonel rank in Territorial Army

Neeraj Chopra, who was in 2024 promoted to the rank of Subedar Major, has been conferred the honorary rank in the Territorial Army just days before he starts his season at the Doha Diamond League.

Neeraj Chopra is widely considered the greatest athlete India has ever produced

Neeraj Chopra has been conferred with the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army on Tuesday. The double Olympic medalist’s appointment, which was published in The Gazette of India, came into effect on April 16. Neeraj, who starts his season on Friday at the Doha Diamond League, was earlier conferred the rank of Subedar Major in 2024.

“No 3 (E) dated 9th May 2025 in exercise of the powers conferred by Para -31 of the Territorial Army Regulations, 1948, the president is pleased to confer on sEx- Sub Maj Neeraj Chopra, PVSM, Padma Shri, VSM, Village & Post Office Khandra, Panipat, Haryana with effect from 16 April, 2025,” a statement from Major General GS Choudhry, Joint Secretary, Department of Military Affairs, read.

The honour is the latest among several that 27-year-old Neeraj has been conferred over the course of an illustrious career in which he has come to be recognised as the greatest Indian athlete of all time. Neeraj had earlier been enrolled as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the rank of Naib Subedar in the Indian Army on August 26, 2016. Two years, later he was conferred the Arjuna Award after becoming the first Indian win gold at javelin throw at the Commonwealth Games and later at the Asian Games.

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He received the Khel Ratna and Vishisht Seva Medal for his meritorious service before getting promoted to the rank of Subedar in 2021. Neeraj was then awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022, the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Force. Last year, he was promoted to the rank of Subedar Major. During this time, Neeraj became the first Indian in the country’s independent history to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics by winning the men’s javelin event at Tokyo 2020. He then became the third individual Indian athlete after Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu to win more than Olympic medals by taking silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

After the Doha Diamond League on Friday, Neeraj will compete at the 71st Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour (Silver Level) meet in Chorzow, Poland, on May 23. He is then slated to feature in the Ostrava Golden Spike 2025 athletics meet in the Czech Republic city on June 24. Neeraj was forced to pull out of the last two editions of the tournament due to injury.