New Delhi: Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Saturday announced three-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny as his new coach. The move comes after the Haryana-based athlete ended his five-year stint with German biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz last month.
Neeraj will start his training under the Czechian’s watch as he is scheduled to travel to South Africa at the end of the month to start his off-season training for the competitions of the next season (calendar year). This will be a new chapter for the Indian track and field champion to get the inputs of the most accomplished javelin thrower of his time.
Born on June 16, 1966, in Mladá Boleslav, Zelezny won three gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta) and 2000 (Sydney) apart from bagging the silver medal in his maiden appearance at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He happens to be the only javelin thrower in the history to win three gold medals at the marquee sporting event. He has also bageed three world championship titles in 1993 (Stuttgart), 1995 (Gothenburg) and 2001 (Edmonton).
The Czechian still holds the world record throw in men’s javelin, hurling the spear for a monstrous 98.48m while clinching his second Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games, which also makes him the Olympic record holder. Zelezny also has marked five of the best nine throws of the longest distance in men’s javelin throw of all-time.
Zelezny was the coach of Czech Republic javelin thrower Jakub Vadlejch for 14 years before the two decided to part ways this year. The 58-year-old former Czech athlete has also coached other Olympic medallists from his own country such as Vitezslay Vesely and Barbora Špotakova (two-time Olympic champion).
Neeraj has already hit the eyes of Jan Zelezny with his impressive performances as a teenager. In fact, the world record holder and three-time Olympic champion Zelezny had expressed the wish to coach the athlete from Khandra village in Haryana’s Panipat district.
As reported by ESPN India, Zelezny mentioned that if anyone he would train outside from Czechia then it was Neeraj. The accomplished javelin thrower and coach will take the responsibility from here to help Neeraj improve his throws with change in technicality, particularly the focus will be to breach the 90m mark.
In an interview with Sportstar in August 2023, Zelezny said that Neeraj could break his world record.
Born on June 16, 1966, in Mladá Boleslav, Jan Zelezny won three gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta) and 2000 (Sydney) apart from bagging the silver medal in his maiden appearance at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
