Czech great Jan Zelezny to coach Neeraj Chopra

​New Delhi: Neeraj Chopra seems to have received the perfect boost entering into a fresh season. The two-time Olympic and World Championships medallist has joined hands with Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny, who has come on board as the 26-year-old’s new coach, Sports Authority of India announced on Saturday.

Triple Olympic and world champion Zelezny also holds the world record (98.48m) for the last 28 years. More importantly, the 58-year-old has been coaching elite javelin throwers from his country. For India’s only Olympic track and field champion, it appears a well thought out decision as he renews his quest to cross the elusive 90m mark, with a month-long training stint at Pochefstroom, South Africa.
Chopra won a historic gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and a silver in Paris, besides two world championships medals – silver at 2022 Eugene and gold at 2023 Budapest. These successes came under German biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz. That association ended after Paris where Chopra failed to hit 90m while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem took gold with an Olympic record (92.97m).
The Indian 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 issue going into the fresh Olympic cycle.
Zelezny has been an inspirational figure for Chopra and the two joining forces is a natural progression for the Indian. Chopra is known to have modelled his throwing technique on Zelezny, and much like the Czech great, the Indian is known for his remarkable consistency under the pressure of competition.
Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit last year, Chopra had hailed Zelezny’s uncomplicated methods. “These days, you have a lot of things — advancements in training techniques, food and more. But if we talk about athletes earlier, like Jan Zelezny, who holds the javelin world record, they had simple training and it worked. So, I try to not overcomplicate things. I try to focus on the simple things,” he had said.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch, who has been training under Zelezny for years, has decided to exit the group following Chopra’s inclusion.
“Jakub and I agreed that he will not train in my group for the next season. We came to this decision also after we could not find an agreement to include Neeraj Chopra in our team,” Zelezny, who was approached by Chopra a few weeks back, was quoted as saying by the Czech Athletics Association (CAS).
“That (Chopra getting in touch) made me happy because I talked about him as a great talent many years ago, at the beginning of his career. I also saw a great benefit for the other members of my group, in which the best javelin throwers in the world would motivate each other and everyone would benefit from it. I told the group about both of my intentions: to lead the elite training group for two more years, and to welcome Neeraj Chopra into the group. I’m starting a collaboration with Chopra. As of now, we’re getting to know each other remotely, we’ll only start it personally at a traditional winter camp in South Africa,” he added.
Zelezny’s salary will be funded by the union Sports Ministry’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), the SAI statement said.
“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.
Zelezny is regarded as the greatest and among the most technically gifted javelin throwers ever. He won Olympic gold in 1992 Barcelona (representing Czechoslovakia), 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney (both for Czech Republic). His World Championships wins came in 1993, 1995 and 2001.
“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. 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 guided Vadlejch (silver) and Vitezslav Vesely (bronze) when Chopra won gold at Tokyo. He has also coached two-time women’s Olympic and three-time World champion Barbora Spotakova.