With Neeraj Chopra ending his association with long-term coach Klaus Bartonietz, a golden era of Indian athletics ended.
The duo of Chopra and Klaus ruled the Javelin world with Olympic titles, world titles, Asian Games titles, and medals at all the prestigious global events in the world.
Klaus, who came to India as a biomechanical expert to guide athletes across disciplines, was picked by Neeraj, who was working with German coach Uwe John then.
After Uwe had a fallout with the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI), Klaus became a full-time coach for Neeraj and focussed solely on him.
Under his guidance, Neeraj improved massively and reached very close to breaching the 90m mark multiple times.
The duo together won multiple titles including World Championships, Olympic Games, and Asian Games. Neeraj also broke the national record and registered his personal best of 89.94m under Klaus.
Another interesting fact is that Neeraj never finished out of the podium position under Klaus in the past six years maintaining an incredible streak that shows his consistency.
Honours won by Neeraj and Klaus as a duo:
2020
ACNW League Meeting- 87.86m- 1st Place
2021
Athletics Meet Lisbon- 83.18m- 1st Place
Karlstad GP- 80.96m- 1st Place
Kurtoane Games- 86.79m- 3rd Place
Olympic Games Tokyo- 87.58m- 1st Place
2022
Paavo Nurmi Games- 89.30m- 2nd Place
Kuortane Games- 86.69m- 1st Place
Stockholm Diamond League- 89.94m- 2nd Place
World Athletics Championships- 88.13m- 2nd Place
Lausanne Diamond League- 89.08m- 1st Place
Zurich Diamond League final- 88.44m- 1st Place
2023
Doha Diamond League- 88.67m- 1st Place
Lausanne Diamond League- 87.66m- 1st Place
World Athletics Championships- 88.17m- 1st Place
Zurich Diamond League: 85.71m- 2nd Place
Eugene Diamond League final- 83.80m- 2nd Place
Asian Games, Hangzhou- 88.88m- 1st Place
2024
Doha Diamond League- 88.36m- 2nd Place
Federation Cup Bhubaneswar- 82.27m- 1st Place
Paavo Nurmi Games- 85.97m- 1st Place
Olympic Games Paris- 89.45m- 2nd Place
Lausanne Diamond League- 89.49m- 2nd Place
Brussels Diamond League final- 87.86m- 2nd Place
While the end of the partnership is a big heartbreak for the Indian fans, it has come at the right time when Neeraj is recovering from an adductor niggle and the new coach will have ample amount of time to work on with Neeraj.