New Delhi: Two-time Olympic and World Championships medallist Neeraj Chopra has joined hands with Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny, who comes on board as the 26-year-old’s new coach ahead of the new season, Sports Authority of India said in a statement on Saturday.
Triple Olympic and world champion Zelezny is also holds the world record for the last 28 years. India’s only Olympic track and field champion makes a fresh start, and renews his quest for the elusive 90m mark, after his silver medal at the Paris Olympics with a month-long training stint at Pochefstroom, South Africa.
Chopra, 26, won a historic gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the Paris podium place, as well as two world championships medals – silver at the 2022 Eugene edition and gold at 2023 Budapest – under Germany’s bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz. That association ended with the Olympics and Chopra had been expected to announce a fresh coaching tie-up, especially after saying that he was postponing surgery on a persistent groin injury and instead looking to manage the problem going into the fresh Olympic cycle.
Czech Zelezny, a three-time Olympic and World champion who holds the world record, has been an inspirational figure for Chopra.
Sports Authority of India (SAI), in a media statement, said Zelezny’s salary will be funded by the union Sports Ministry’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
“Growing up, I admired Jan’s technique and precision and spent a lot of time watching videos of him. He was the best in the sport for so many years, and I believe that working with him will be invaluable because our throwing styles are similar, and his knowledge is unmatched. It’s an honour to have Jan by my side as I push towards the next level in my career, and I can’t wait to get started,” Chopra said in the SAI statement.
Chopra has, over the past few years, expressed his desire to breach the 90m mark. His alliance with Bartonietz after Paris, where Chopra again failed to hit the 90m mark while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won gold with an Olympic record 92.97m.
Zelezny, 58, is regarded as the greatest javelin thrower in history. He won Olympic gold in 1992 Barcelona (representing Czechoslovakia), 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney (both for Czech Republic). His World Championships gold medals came in 1993, 1995 and 2001. Zelezny’s world record of 98.48 metres was set in 1996.
“I have already spoken about Neeraj as a great talent many years ago. When I saw him early in his career, I realised great possibilities for top results. I also said that if I should start to coach somebody from outside Czechia, my first choice would be Neeraj. I like his story and I see big potential, as he is young and able to improve. There have been many athletes contacting me for coaching, so for me to take this up means that it is a great honour to have him in my team. We are getting to know each other more closely and will start in person at a traditional winter camp in South Africa. I believe in his progress, especially in the technical aspect, so that he can continue achieving top positions at the main championships,” Zelezny said.
Zelezny has five of the top 10 best throws of all time and broke the world record four times.
The Czech was coach of Jakub Vadlejch (silver) and Vítezslav Vesely (bronze) when Chopra won gold at Tokyo. He has also coached two-time women’s Olympic champion and three-time World champion Barbora Spotakova.