'I knew he would make it big': Neeraj's first coach recounts Golden Boy's formative years

Kashinath Naik from Uttara Kannada in Karnataka, a subedar in the Indian Army, trained Neeraj at the Indian Army facility from 2015 to 2017. Kashinath himself had won a bronze in javelin throw at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi in 2010

Sirsi (Karnataka):India's 'Golden Boy' Neeraj Chopra created history at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. While the medal is a fruit of the years of hardwork the 23-year-old has put in, very few people know that his first coach, who set a solid foundation to Neeraj's game, was Kashinath Naik - a soldier from Sirsi in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district and himself a bronze medalist in javelin throw at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi.

Kashinath, a subedar in the Indian Army since the last 23 years, trained Neeraj for two years at the Indian Army facility in Patiala, Punjab, from 2015 to 2017. It was here that he polished Neeraj's techniques of the grip, the run-up and the throw among others. Under Kashinath's watch, Neeraj set a world record in the juniors' category by throwing the javelin as far as 86.48 metres. The event was held in Poland. He starting training with foreign coaches recently.

''Neeraj is a great athlete. The first time I saw him when he was around 18 years old, I knew this boy had it in him," an elated Kashinath said. "Neeraj joined the academy in 2015 when I was a coach for the Indian Army. Back then, he was just a junior. He used to throw (javelin) around 70 metres back then. Neeraj and Devendra (another athlete) participated in the national competition held at Mangaluru in Karnataka. After he joined the Army as a subedar, in 2018, he travelled to Finland for coaching. He came back stronger and went on to win gold in both Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games," Kashinath said.

Kashinath was a coach to the Indian Army team from 2013 to 2019. He is curently associated with the Army Sports Institute, Pune.