Neeraj Chopra doesn’t require motivation, says his former coach

Neeraj Chopra’s former coach Klaus Bartonietz said the Indian javelin throw ace is so driven to excel in his field that he does not need to be motivated. “He doesn't require motivation. He comes in with this mindset,” said Bartonietz in an interaction with news agencies.

The German bio-mechanics expert referred to Chopra’s spectacular performance in the recent Doha Diamond League, where he breached the 90-metre mark. Chopra threw 90.23 m but had to settle for second place as German Julian Weber produced a massive 91.06 m throw in his last attempt.

Bartonietz, who had a fruitful five-year association with Chopra, wasn’t surprised to see the Indian ace breach the 90-metre mark. “It was just a matter of time,” he said. With the help of Bartonietz, Chopra became India’s first track & field Olympic medalist with a gold in Tokyo 2020 and secured the silver medal in the Paris Games.

“Neeraj is a very responsive athlete, very attentive, and trustful. That trust places a responsibility on you as a coach to always be at your best,” Bartonietz said.

“But on the other side, he brings a lot of own mental effort into training. He is very creative towards his training in terms of looking for new exercises, looking for making the exercises more efficient, specifically for the javelin.

“He understands very well what the event requires. What we (coaches) want is a creative-thinking athlete, not one that just asks 'coach what we have to do today' and just walk into (training) like it's a factory, just mechanistic working.”

Chopra posted a glowing tribute to Bartonietz when he decided to retire. “Coach, you are more than just a mentor to me. Everything you taught has helped me grow both as an athlete and person,” Chopra posted last year. Though he stepped away from coaching last year, Bartonietz has returned to India as a consultant with JSW's Inspire Institute of Sports. Chopra now trains under World Record holder Jan Zelezny.