‘Carrying Indian flag proudly, by cheating’; former coach Klaus Bartonietz blasts Shivpal Singh for failing dope test

Klaus Bartonietz minced no words for Shivpal Singh after the Indian javelin thrower failed the dope test for a second time in his career, which could see him getting banned for as many as eight years if found guilty. Bartonietz, who was the coach of Neeraj Chopra, when the javelin ace won Tokyo Olympics gold in 2021 and a silver medal at the Paris Games last year, couldn't make sense Shivpal's act calling it 'stupid'.

The 29-year-old Shivpal, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after he returned positive for a banned substance when his urine sample was taken out of competition earlier this year.

The 75-year-old German bio-mechanics expert, Bartonietz, didn't hide his anger at Shivpal and was short of words. "Disappointed? I don't know. But I'm really pissed off. So stupid," Bartonietz told PTI. "It shows that you don't trust in this process. All those who are doping don't trust that they can reach the top by normal nature of training," he added.

“This is like cheating. And carrying the Indian flag proudly, saying Jai Hind, by cheating. I have no word for this. (But) the good thing about the Shivpal story is that, he got caught. So, the system is working.”

Bartonietz reveals Shivpal's misconduct in training

Bartonietz had worked with Shivpal for a brief period during his initial years in India. The German came into the country in 2019 to assist then head coach Uwe Hohn, who was having trouble managing a large group of athletes - 17. Bartonietz recalled he coached Shivpal for a short period of time before Uwe took full responsibility of him.

"So Shivpal was with Uwe, but sometimes we worked together," recounted Bartonietz before also revealing Shivpal's misconduct during the brief stint. "So, even when he (Shivpal) did not come for training four times after he had an evening where he was no more able to train the next day," he added.