How Neeraj Chopra’s former coach, Dr Klaus Bartonietz, guided Keshorn Walcott to a stunning gold at Tokyo World Athletics Champions

The coach was having a late dinner after the final, but there was a beeline turning up at his table to congratulate him. After all, this was Walcott’s first medal at a World Championships, 13 years after his 2012 London Olympics gold. “The Japanese and Finnish athletes just came to give congratulations. All throwers are good friends, that is a good thing. Neeraj also congratulated,” the 76-year-old said.

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— Marie Hull (@MariefHull) September 18, 2025

Bartonietz said he had mixed feelings at the end of the day after seeing Chopra struggle and finish eighth. “It is a bit of a sad feeling also for me. Neeraj said he has back problems. But happy that Sachin Yadav did well, that is something I did not expect and also the American who came third (Curtis Thompson).”

Walcott gave credit to Bartonietz for guiding him to a medal that eluded him all these years. “I have been waiting for this medal for 13 years. The Olympic victory at the age of 19 was incredible. I could never beat it. I have been fighting for this but I was always off the podium. I even thought that the championships are not my competition. But I never gave up. Maybe some changes I made last year paid off. To change my coach was the best decision I have made recently,” Walcott said.

In his typical understated style, Bartonietz underplayed his role in Walcott’s success. “He is an experienced athlete so I didn’t try to change much, but it was about developing his strong points. First of all, he had to stay healthy and then from a biomechanical point of view, it is about supporting in the right way. When he won the Olympic gold medal (in 2012) he was just 19, he was a young man then. Now he is 32… like a different person. But he has the hunger to do well,” he said.

Growing potatoes

The angle of release was one of the areas of focus. “The angle of release and acceleration make a difference. You could see that some javelins yesterday in qualification landed vertically into the ground. That means it was an awful release. I thought somebody would throw 90 metres, like say (Anderson) Peters or (Arshad) Nadeem or Neeraj. But Championships is not about throwing far but about who wins. People remember who won.”

Klaus Bartonietz with Neeraj Chopra; Trinidad And Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott celebrates after winning gold medal in the men’s javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (X and AP)

After multiple calls, between Walcott and Bartonietz, they first met in Lisbon, Portugal, in April. Portugal has been a regular training base for Walcott since 2016. “He knows the people there, he has a little structure there with a good physio. I also have friends in Portugal. So that worked out well,” Bartonietz said.

Along with Walcott’s success, what has given Bartonietz joy is his potato farm back home in Oberschlettenbach, a 140-resident village in south-west Germany. “In April I had to plant potatoes and before that, prepare the ground to grow them. They grew well and at the end of July, I could harvest them.” He visits the nearby forests to cut firewood and also for trekking.

Asked if coaching Walcott signalled that he had come out of retirement, Bartonietz said his current position did not take up as much of his time as it did when he was training Chopra. “This is not as intense as it was with Neeraj, and not like it takes all of my time.” Once Walcott takes a much-deserved break, the two will talk about the future. “Maybe, the next is the Commonwealth Games,” Bartonietz said. Before that he will return to Oberschlettenbach he will farm, trek and drink water from a fountain in the middle of the village.