New Delhi: In a bid to call out anti-Muslim bigotry, several politicians and journalists with verified accounts lauded the contribution of coach Naseem Ahmad towards athlete Neeraj Chopra’s historic Gold in javelin throwing at the just-concluded Tokyo Olympics on social media. However, they mistakenly referred to Ahmad as Chopra’s current coach instead of his former coach.
One among them is Congress leader Dr Udit Raj, who tweeted Sunday: “Bhakts, gold medalist Neeraj Chopra’s coach has turned out to be a Muslim — Naseem Ahmad. What will you do now?”
The tweet has been liked over 4,000 times.
भक्तों गोल्ड मेडलिस्ट नीरज चोपड़ा का कोच मुसलमान – नसीम अहमद निकला। अब क्या करोगे?
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) August 8, 2021
Several other Congress leaders also put out similar tweets. Congress’ National Media Panelist Surendra Rajput uploaded a photo of Ahmad and Chopra and said that Neeraj Chopra’s coach is named Naseem Ahmad.
भाजपा और मोदी समर्थकों #NeerajGoldChopra के कोच का नाम नसीम अहमद है। pic.twitter.com/FBNcEfY92j
— सुरेंद्र राजपूत Surendra Rajput سریندر راجپوت (@ssrajputINC) August 8, 2021
The same photo was also posted by Samajwadi Party youth leader Anees Raja, who congratulated both Ahmad and Chopra on the achievement.
टोक्यो ओलंपिक में भारत को पहला गोल्ड दिलाने वाले नीरज चौपड़ा के कोच नसीम अहमद बोले- मैं खुशनसीब हूं कि मैं देश को नीरज जैसा एथलीट दे पाया!!
पुनः बधाई आप दोनो को pic.twitter.com/vt5l56Asi3— Anees Raja انیس راجا (@aneesrajasp) August 8, 2021
Several other journalists like Wasiuddin Siddiqui, the Daman & Diu Congress Sevadal and Puneet Kumar Singh also referred to Ahmad as Chopra’s current coach.
Fact check
While Naseem Ahmad has coached Chopra in the past, the javelin thrower has said that he has been coached by German Klaus Bartonietz since 2019. Furthermore, German javelin throwing legend and India’s javelin team coach Uwe Hohn had also coached him in 2018.
“I would like to thank Uwe sir and Klaus sir for putting their heart into training me, which has resulted in the Olympic gold,” Chopra told The Hindu in an interview.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Sunday also thanked Bartonietz on Twitter for his coaching, and uploaded a video message from the coach.
Thank you "King Klaus" for making #NeerajChopara the New OLYMPIC CHAMPION
Here is what Neeraj Chopra's coach Dr. Klaus Bartonietz has to say to #India @Media_SAI @IndiaSports @Adille1 @KirenRijiju @Anurag_Office pic.twitter.com/eVwwSOEiFB
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 8, 2021
However, Ahmad also played an important role in Neeraj Chopra’s development as an athlete, according to a report in The Indian Express.
In 2011, Ahmad and coach Jasveer Singh began training Chopra and overseeing his progress at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, when Chopra was 13 years old.
Chopra continued his training at the complex until 2016 after which he was trained by various coaches at the national camp.
Following Chopra’s win, a video of Ahmad’s celebrations in Panchkula also made the rounds on Twitter.
That’s how coach Naseem Ahmad celebrated his ward @Neeraj_chopra1 success in @Tokyo2020 at Panchkula on Saturday evening. pic.twitter.com/1v7iMU8Bei
— Nitin Sharma (@Nitinsharma631) August 7, 2021
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