Czech javelin legend and former coach of Neeraj Chopra, Jan Zelezny, has teamed up with Japan star Haruka Kitaguchi as her coach, the athlete announced in an Instagram post on Friday.

“After our training camp in South Africa, I’m excited to announce that I have officially started working with true legend Jan Zelezny,” Kitaguchi, the Olympic women’s javelin champion, said in the post.

“I am incredibly honoured to begin this new chapter with him.”

Zelezny, 59, is a three-time Olympic javelin champion and still holds the world record with a throw of 98.48 metres, set in 1996. He coached Neeraj from late 2024 to early 2026, a spell in which the 2020 Olympic champion breached his 90-metre mark, at the Doha Diamond League.

The two mutually parted ways in January 2026.

Kitaguchi, 28, moved to the Czech Republic in 2019 and began training with local coach David Sekerak. Sekerak has since led her to the 2023 world title and the 2024 Olympic crown, together with two Diamond League titles.

Kitaguchi won gold at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest and the 2024 Paris Olympics. She was the host nation’s main medal hope at the 2025 world championships in Tokyo, but failed to reach the final.

An elbow injury restricted Kitaguchi to just two competitions in the build-up to the championships, and her best throw of 60.38 metres placed her 14th in qualifying.

Announcing her partnership with Zelezny, Kitaguchi said she was “looking forward to absorbing everything I can — not just about javelin technique, but also the elite mentality it takes to succeed”.

(With inputs from AFP)

Published on May 02, 2026