Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has overtaken Usain Bolt as the most written-about athlete in 2022 after winning a historic gold at the Tokyo Olympics, according to a study by World Athletics.
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Moreover, India's 24-year-old star player added to his fame by winning a bronze medal at the World Championships. Neeraj became the first Indian athlete to win a medal in track and field by winning the javelin throw gold in Tokyo. As far as media coverage is concerned, 812 articles were published on Chopra which is the highest among athletes. Whereas, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah finished second with 751 articles. Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce finished third with 698 articles. While 200m world champion Shericka Jackson finished fourth with 679 articles. The charismatic Bolt is at the fifth position in this list with 574 articles.
On the other hand, only 574 articles have been written this year on eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt. This is the first time that Bolt has not finished first in the list of most articled athletes in a year. Bolt retired in 2017, but his popularity is immense. Bolt also holds world records in the 100m and 200m sprints. He is also an 11-time world champion.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe released the figures of the most written-about athlete in 2022 during an interaction with select Asian journalists, including PTI. These figures were provided by Unicepta, a Germany-based media monitoring firm. "It is an interesting one (list). For the first time this year, Usain Bolt has not led the list of the most written-about athletes of the year." Sebastian Coe said in a briefing with international news agencies.
It has been a wonderful year for Neeraj. He participated in the World Championship this year after the Tokyo Olympics and won the silver medal. After this, he did not play in the Commonwealth Games. However, Neeraj bounced back from the Diamond League and won the gold medal. He also became the first Indian player to do so. Neeraj is currently busy preparing for the next season and the Asian Games.