Neeraj Chopra's javelin coach Uwe Hohn sacked: Here's why
In a major development, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to sack national javelin coach Uwe Hohn. The federation, on Monday, said it is "not happy" with his recent performance and will hire two new foreign coaches soon. Notably, the contract of Hohn was valid till the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was appointed as the chief coach in November 2017. Here's more.
AFI president Adille Sumariwalla opened up on the development during a press conference at the two-day executive council meeting of the federation. "We are bringing two more coaches and we are changing Uwe Hohn as we are not happy with his performance. We are looking for a foreign coach for Toor (shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor)," Sumariwalla told PTI.
AFI planning commission chief Lalit K Bhanot revealed that several javelin throwers, including Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Chopra, didn't want to train with Hohn. "Dr. Klaus (Bartonietz) will continue to coach as (bio-mechanical) expert. We want two more coaches for javelin. It is not easy to get good coaches. But we are trying our best to get at least one more good coach," he said.
Chopra had trained with Bartonietz ahead of the Tokyo Games. However, the former hailed Hohn after winning gold in Tokyo. "The time I spent with coach Hohn, I believe, was good and I respect him. In that year (2018), I won gold at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. I thought that his (Hohn's) training style and technique were a bit different," Chopra said.
A month before the Tokyo Olympics, Hohn had slammed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Athletics Federation of India (AFI). He claimed the two bodies "did not do enough" to prepare athletes for the Games. Speaking about his stint, he said it was "difficult to work with these people". The 59-year-old had also alleged that he was "blackmailed" into signing a new contract.
"I'm not happy with the new contract. We got blackmailed into signing it otherwise we wouldn't have got paid anymore. They said they would review our coaching in April and then increase our salaries. Like all promises, these were only empty words," Hohn had said.
Hohn is a former German track and field athlete who competed in javelin throw. He remains the only javelin thrower to have recorded a throw of over 100m. He had set a record of 104.80m in July 1984. Hohn broke the previous world record of 99.72 m set by USA's Tom Petranoff (1983). The former has been a professional coach since 1999.
Under Hohn, India's Neeraj Chopra scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics. He became only the second Indian to clinch an individual Olympic gold medal after former shooter Abhinav Bindra. His throw of 87.58m in the second attempt made him a top contender to win the javelin throw final. The former gave India their first medal in athletics after independence (1947).
