Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra’s stock on Facebook, Instagram valued at ₹428 crore

Neeraj Chopra was mentioned over 2.9 million times making him the “most mentioned” athlete on a global scale on Instagram during the Tokyo Olympics.

Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra throws javelin during a felicitation event at Lovely Professional University, in Jalandhar,  (PTI)

Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra became a household name this year when he won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He was the first athlete from India to win gold in the track and field event and his smashing achievement turned him into an online phenomenon and social media star overnight. And since the day of his victory, Chopra's stocks on social and digital media have been rising at a rapid pace, and this is corroborated by a research report issued by a consultancy firm YouGov SPORT.

According to YouGov SPORT's report, Neeraj Chopra's stocks have been skyrocketing thanks to his popularity. He recorded over 2.9 million mentions from 1.4 million authors, which made him the “most mentioned” athlete on a global scale on Instagram during the Tokyo Olympics, as Business Insider reports.

These numbers reportedly represent around 1,401% and 2,055% increase in the mentions from separate online authors respectively. Thanks to this, Chopra's reach and influence on social media and digital media have touched 412 million, on a global scale. And all of this combined pulls this Olympic gold medalist's social media valuation to ₹428 crores, according to the report.

The report also mentions that Chopra's total social media interactions since he won the gold medal have risen to 12.79 million - which is at an increasing rate of 86.3%. One of the core factors that have contributed to Chopra's meteoric popularity is his fans watching his videos. This has increased the view count to 4.05 million, as the report states, and is three times the average of any Indian athlete on social media. At this point, Chopra has managed to overshadow international crickets from the Indian team like KL Rahul and Risabh Pant in terms of total interactions and reach on social media.

With Chopra getting popular overnight, he's seen a massive spike in followers on social media platforms, particularly on Instagram. On Instagram Chopra garnered 4.4 million followers which represents a 2,297% jump in follower count. His recent popularity and ongoing track record have made him popular amongst followers and fans making him a target for brands and businesses that are offering him new opportunities to branch out and grow his social media clout.