The AFI had appointed Hohn as chief coach in 2017 to train Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra and two other Tokyo Olympians.
In a surprising development, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Monday (September 13) sacked national chief javelin coach Uwe Hohn, saying it is ‘not happy’ with his performance. The AFI announced that it will soon recruit two new foreign coaches. The AFI had appointed Hohn as chief coach in 2017 to train Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra and two other Tokyo Olympians Shivpal Singh and Annu Rani.
The 59-year-old Hohn who hails from Germany is a former world record holder and his contract with AFI was valid until the end of the Tokyo Olympics.
“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),” said AFI president Adille Sumariwalla at a press conference.
The press briefing was held by AFI after the end of a two-day executive council meeting of the federation. The meeting was also attended by AFI planning committee chairman Lalit K Bhanot and vice-president Anju Bobby George.
It may be recalled that Neeraj Chopra was trained by Hohn during the Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2018 before another German Klaus Bartonietz took up as Chopra's coach. Few days before Tokyo Olympics, Hohn had claimed that he had been blackmailed into accepting his contract by the Sports Authority of India and AFI. The charge was rejected by both SAI and AFI.
“To reach the next level, we have to redesign the junior programme, how to do talent identification better to improve it further, we held discussions with athletes and coaches, both former and present athletes from all states,” Sumariwalla said.
“Athletes need more competitions, this is mainly for seniors to prepare for larger competitions. Next year we have a tight calendar – with the World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Athletes need competition in preparatory period so that their bodies remain in good nick. So the plan is to introduce build-up competitions at the zonal level so that athletes don't have to travel far,” added Sumariwalla.
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 "Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra’s former coach Uwe Hohn sacked, here's why")
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