New Delhi, Jan. 11 -- A little over a year since they came together in what was seen as a dream athlete-coach combination, double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra and Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny have parted ways. The decision was announced by Chopra's newly launched Vel Sports Management through a press release. Chopra, who idolised the Czech great, formally started working with Zelezny in late 2024 at a training camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Last year saw Chopra finally break the 90m barrier for the only time in his career, fuelling hopes of more such throws given Zelezny's unparalleled record of 52 90m-plus throws. The season, however, turned out to be a mixed one for Chopra as he failed to defend his crown at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, finishing eighth (84.03m). That result also ended his streak of 26 consecutive 1-2 results. Chopra later revealed he was struggling with back issues in the lead-up to the marquee event. He was already dealing with a groin issue and had decided to 'manage' the injury instead of going under the knife. Chopra won the Paris Diamond League, Ostrava Golden Spike and the inaugural NC Classic in Bengaluru last year besides a second place at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Chorzow, Poland and in the Diamond League Final in Zurich. "Working with Jan opened my eyes to so many new ideas. The way he thinks about technique, rhythm and movement is incredible, and I learned a lot from every single session we had together," the 28-year-old said in the release. While Chopra's next course of action is unclear, it is understood that he will take charge of his own coaching, at least for the near future. "Having worked with some of the sport's finest coaches, he now feels ready to apply what worked best from each of them. At this stage of his career, he trusts his understanding of his body and his throwing more than ever before, and he has many new ideas he wants to bring into his training," said the release. Much like German Uwe Hohn who had trained Chopra in the early part of his international career, Zelezny was known to focus on power training. Chopra's stint with Hohn lasted about a year. The most suited for him was Germany's Klaus Bartonietz, who coached Chopra to twin Olympics and World medals. Klaus though is a biomechanics expert who optimised Chopra's flexibility and helped him reach a level where he could consistently unfurl 87-89m throws which, more often than not, kept him in contention at major meets. Chopra's decision becomes all the more crucial considering it has come in a year that features the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. What's startling is the fact that just last week the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had indicated that Zelezny was still in charge of Chopra's training. "Zelezny has a complete calendar. He (Chopra) is just taking a break. He is also recovering from his injuries. He had two injuries," AFI spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla had said. AFI officials could not be reached for comment. Chopra, it is understood, is currently training by himself in South Africa....