India’s star athlete Neeraj Chopra has been conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army. The double Olympic medallist’s appointment, published in The Gazette of India, came into effect on April 16.
Chopra, who made history by becoming India’s first Olympic gold medallist in track and field at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, cemented his legacy with a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Games. With two Olympic medals, he is now India’s most successful individual Olympian.
He was earlier enrolled as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the rank of Naib Subedar in the Indian Army on 26 August 2016. He was promoted to Subedar in 2021 following his heroics in Tokyo.
Chopra has joined a distinguished list of Indian Olympians who have been honoured with military titles. Abhinav Bindra, the nation’s first individual gold medallist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was conferred the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, while shooter Vijay Kumar was made an honorary Captain following his silver medal win in 2012.
Former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was awarded the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2011, following his leadership in India’s T20 World Cup (2007) and ODI World Cup (2011) victories.
IANS
