File photo of Uwe Hon.
Former world record holder and national javelin coach Uwe Hohn is walking out as his contract, which lasted until the end of the Tokyo Olympics, is unlikely to go ahead. The 59-year-old German was appointed as the head coach for a year in November 2017 to coach Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopa, other Tokyo Olympians Shivpal Singh and Annu Rani.
“He (Han) is out. His contract is unlikely to be extended by SAI (Sports Authority of India),” a source close to the development told PTI on condition of anonymity.
It is revealed that Hohn, whose 104.80m throw in 1984 led to a change in javelin design in 1986 and a world record resumed, had demanded a 50 percent increase in his salary, which is equivalent to a first-class air ticket. In addition, it is tax-free. His original contract was Rs 1.09 crore per annum, plus boarding, lodging, medical facilities and holiday travel. He wanted to increase it to Rs 1.64 crore per annum when the contract was up for renewal in October 2020.
“SAI had informed them in 2020 that their demands were unreasonable and unacceptable as there was no need to increase the result of the throwers’ training by Rs 55 lakh,” SAI sources said.
The SAI had also reported that it had appointed another foreign javelin throw coach, bio-mechanics expert Dr Claus Bartonietz, at a considerable cost, on the recommendation of the Athletics Federation of India. Hawn stayed with Chopra for nearly a year from the time of his appointment till the 2018 Asian Games.
The AFI has made it clear that it was Chopra’s choice to train with Klaus except for Hawn. Chopra himself said that although he respected Hahn, the German’s training methods and technical approach were not to his liking.
“I respect Hon sir, I won gold under him in 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. But he had a different technical approach and training style. I told him that I was Claus,” Chopra said at the felicitation ceremony on Tuesday. I want to work with sir.” Ceremony organized by AFI on his historic Olympic gold winning feat.
“His (Klaus) training plans were good and suited mine. He plans training according to the athlete’s body, he has also worked with a lot of athletes in different countries.”
Sources said that Hawn had decided to renew the contract in October 2020 on the existing terms and was training Shivpal, who failed to qualify for the final with a best throw of 76.40m. Rani, who was also a flop in the Tokyo Olympics, refused to train with Hone.
Hone’s outrage about the lack of facilities at the national camp a month before the Olympics also did not go down well with both AFI and SAI.
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