Commonwealth Games gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s former coach Gary Calvert, under whom he created history by winning the yellow metal in the Junior World Championships in 2016 with a world record throw, has died in Beijing.
Calvert, 63, died of a heart attack in Beijing yesterday. He was currently serving as the Javelin throw coach of China.
The Australia born Calvert served as Indian national coach from 2016 to April 2017. Neeraj won a historic gold at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Poland, with a throw of 86.48 metres under his guidance.
Neeraj paid tribute to his former coach. He said he had learnt many things from the Australian.
“Very saddened to hear about the demise of coach Gary Calvert, who died of a heart attack yesterday. I had done a lot of hard work under him in 2016-17 and got to learn a lot. You were a good friend and coach, you will always be remembered. RIP,” Neeraj tweeted.
Calvert was initially appointed in February 2016 for a two-year tenure but resigned in April last year. It is reported that he wanted a increase in salary till 2020 Olympics but disagreement by Sports Authority that he resigned.
