Republic Day 2022: Life-size replica of Neeraj Chopra to be showcased in Haryana tableau during parade

Neeraj Chopra scripted history in August 2021 by becoming the first athlete from the country to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event.

Haryana will showcase the life-size replica of Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra in the form of a tableau during the 2022 Republic Day parade which will be held at Rajpath in the national capital on January 26.

Chopra scripted history in August 2021 by becoming the first athlete from the country to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event.

According to the Directorate of Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, Haryana, a total of ten Olympians will be a part of the tableau.

"This time the tableau of Haryana will be included in the parade of 26 January. 10 Olympians will be part of the tableau. The life-size replica of Neeraj Chopra will be its main attraction. The tableau will be officially introduced in Delhi today. This tableau has been prepared by the Department of Information, Public Relations and Languages," informed DPR Haryana in a tweet.

Notably, javelin star Neeraj, who comes from a village near Panipat in Haryana, became the only athlete to win a track-and-field Olympic Gold medal from India with a throw of 87.58 m in his second attempt in the Tokyo Olympics.

He also became only the second Indian after shooter Abhinav Bindra to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Olympics.

Interestingly, Neeraj is also the first Indian to win the javelin throw at the Commonwealth games as he landed an 86.47m throw to clinch gold at the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast, Australia.

The star athlete was also conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in November last year for his outstanding achievements.

Meanwhile, this year, for the first time in 75 years, the Republic Day parade will not start at the scheduled time of 10 am but with a 30-minute delay forced by COVID-19 restrictions and homage to Jammu and Kashmir security personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty.

A senior police officer said that every year Republic Day parade used to start at 10 am, but this year it will start at 10.30 am.

Tableaus will go till Red Fort and will be parked over there for public display but marching contingents will stop at National Stadium.