Tokyo Olympics gold medallist, Neeraj Chopra, has been nominated for the prestigious Laureus Sports Award. The 24-year-old has been selected as one of the six nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.
After his nomination for the award, Chopra said: “I’m delighted to be nominated for this Laureus Award and it’s a great honour for me to be recognised in the wider sporting world for what I achieved in Tokyo.”
“From being a kid in a small village in rural India who only took up sport to get fit, to standing on top of an Olympic podium, it’s been quite an eventful journey so far.
“I feel privileged to be able to represent my country and win India medals at the global stage, and now to have this recognition from Laureus and be considered alongside such exceptional athletes is a really special feeling,” he added.
Other nominees for the same awards are Daniil Medvedev (Tennis, Russia), Pedri (Spain, Football), Emma Racucanu (Tennis, UK), Yulimar Rojas (Athletics, Venezuela), Ariarne Titmus (Swimming, Australia).
He is only the third Indian athlete to be nominated for a Laureus Award, after wrestler Vinesh Phogat in 2019 and cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who won the Laureus Sporting Moment Award 2000-2020.
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Phogat was nominated in the ‘Laureus World Sporting Comeback’ category for the year 2019, while Tendulkar won the ‘Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years’ in 2020.
A panel of more than 1,300 sports journalists and broadcasters of the world have selected the nominees in each of the seven categories for this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards.
The winners will be revealed in April, following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the world’s ultimate sports jury, made up of 71 of the greatest sporting legends of all time.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Chopra clinched the gold medal with a throw of 87.58 m in his second attempt.
(With inputs from agencies)
