Olympic Star Neeraj Chopra’s Javelin Coach ‘Thrown Out’; Know Why

Uwe Hohn (left) with Neeraj Chopra during a practice session (Pic Credit: Republic World)

New Delhi: He may have been in charge of coaching Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, but that didn’t save Uwe Hohn from being sacked as the national javelin coach by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

The 59-year-old German great was hired in 2017 to coach Chopra, who went on to win gold medals at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Hohn was also in charge as India’s javelin coach for the Tokyo Olympics.

However, AFI President Adille Sumariwalla on Monday informed that Hohn was being “sent home” after a performance review of athletes and coaches at an executive council meeting.

“We are changing Uwe Hohn. His performance is not good. We will bring two (new) coaches,” Sumariwalla was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

AFI Planning Commission chief Lalit K Bhanot added that national javelin throwers including Tokyo Olympics winner Chopra, Shivpal Singh and Annu Rani didn’t want to train with Hohn.

Those in the know, however, attributed Hohn’s ouster to his criticism of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and AFI.

Ahead of the Olympics, the German had said it was “difficult to work with these people”.

“When I came here, I thought I could change something. But it’s probably too difficult with these people at SAI or AFI. I don’t know if it’s lack of knowledge or ignorance,” he had told the media then.