Coaches behind India's medals at Olympics

Coaches behind India's medals; Only athletes competing in front of the entire world have a place on the podium. However, there is always a guiding hand and wise counselors available to show the path to the medal. The coaches working behind the scenes to ensure the success of their athletes on the highest podium also owes much to the seven medals India earned in Tokyo.

Coaches behind India's medals

Athlete: Neeraj Chopra, Gold, Javelin Throw

Uwe Hohn (Head Coach)

Uwe Hohn, the only man to throw the javelin over 100 meters, coached Chopra when he won Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medals in 2018. He attended Bartonietz for his expertise in early 2019. Both Germans had previously worked with the Chinese national team.

Athlete: Mirabai Chanu Vijay Sharma (Chief National Coach)

He has been working with Mirabai since 2014, the year she won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She failed in Rio in 2016 but since then it has been raining medals for both. Vijay Sharma, along with his mother, persuaded him to consider retirement. Sharma joined the national camp in 2012 after UP, the state he coached, became a national champion.

Athlete: Ravi Dahiya

Coach: Kamal Malikov

He is one of Russia's best coaches and has video-analysed all 16 of his potential opponents in Tokyo

For the Indian wrestler, Malikov was able to purchase major sparring partners in Vladikavkaz (Russia). The 23-year-old's loss in the gold medal match at the Poland Open prompted the 34-year-old's coach and student to work harder to improve reaction time and counter speed. Dahiya is a product of wrestling coach Satpal Singh and was established at Chhatrasal Stadium, Delhi.

ALSO READ: TIMELINE: Women participation in the Olympics

Athlete ; Raffaele Bergamasco

Coach: Sandhya Gurung:

A national boxer who has worked with Lovlina since 2012. Gurung suffered paralysis after a road accident when she was a teenager and was bedridden for three years before starting boxing.

Athlete: PV SIndhu

Coach: Park Tae-Sang

He is a former Korean singles shuttler who has been with Sindhu since 2019. It was luck that brought her to Sindhu when her previous coach had to move out of India due to personal reasons.

He will also instill confidence in Sindhu's game in the nets. Where she used to swat on the shuttle first and lift the fight plentifully to take the fight off the forecourt, in Tokyo, Sindhu skillfully engaged with Akane Yamaguchi and didn't shy away from the dribble. The smash-tap forced the opponents to dig deeper, and it mostly worked in favor of the Indians. The park was also animated - Indus something that gets a lot of energy.

Athlete: Bajrang Punia

Coach: Shako Bentinidis

He is a three-time Olympian. Last year he was stuck in Georgia because of Covid but he was always with Punia through video calls, emails, and phone calls.

ALSO READ: What is the real value of an Olympic medal?

Team: Men’s hockey

Coach: Graham Reid

The stint with the Indian team was a shot at redemption for Reid, who were on top with Australia after they crashed out of the Rio Olympics with a 4-0 loss against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. They have changed the psyche of the team, making them less likely to make costly errors at inappropriate moments. After losing to Belgium in the semi-finals, it was Reid's job to pick a squad for the bronze-medal playoff against Germany, and India delivered their best performance in a long time.

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, and mail us at [email protected] to send us your suggestions and writeups.