Inside coach-less Nirbhay Choudhary’s journey to hammer throw national record

“There is so much going on in my mind right now. I’m probably unable to comprehend what happened. But that’s about it, I am the national record holder,” Nirbhay said.

Nirbhay trains without a coach and plans his training program by looking at YouTube videos. Isolation is nothing new for him.

Wall of Nirbhay Choudhary’s home. (Special arrangement)

After his father Naresh Choudhary — a retired Indian Air Force officer and a former hammer thrower — mentored him in his formative years, Nirbhay has been training on his own at the JLN Stadium with the help of hammer throw literature available online and occasional lessons on Instagram from European coaches.

“Everything is available online now. All the literature, diet plans, and exercises are there. For the past two years, I have been following that and making my plans accordingly,” Nirbhay told The Indian Express. “I always wanted to train under a coach who has enormous international experience and that is why I was training myself to produce a result which helps in getting a top-level coach,” he added.

Nirbhay is a big fan of two-time world champion and 1988 Seoul Olympic gold medallist Sergey Litvinov. The late Russian athlete is considered one of the greatest hammer throwers.

“I watch all the world-class throwers but the videos of Sergey Litvinov have been my favourites. A lot of my early techniques come from his videos,” said Nirbhay.

He also watched videos of Litvinov’s son, Sergey Litvinov Junior, who is a coach and a former thrower with efforts over 80m. After watching the videos, Nirbhay reached out to Litvinov Jr and received some valuable tips from him.

“Litvinov Jr runs an academy in Germany. I reached out to him and he replied in Russian. I got it translated. He advised me to work with a light hammer and focus on pelvic muscle exercises. These two things really helped me,” said Nirbhay. “I wanted to go to Germany to train with him but couldn’t go due to financial constraints.”

Battle with dengue

After winning a junior-level medal, Nirbhay gave two years to himself where he was recovering from dengue and only practising, before playing his first senior national event this year at Indian Athletics Series 14 in Panchkula.

“I was suffering from dengue last year on the same date. 10th September, 2025. I was in bed and my family asked me to reconsider my future in the game but my mother supported me and Lalit Bhanot sir (South Asian Athletics Federation president) asked me to hold my fort,” said Nirbhay.

On the wall adjoining the bed where Nirbhay recovered from dengue, he wrote “70+ National record on 10 September” before coming for the Indian Athletics Series Final.

Similarly, on September 9 he promised a national record as a birthday gift to her sister.

Nirbhay Choudhary’s goal is written on paper. (Special arrangement)

“I was manifesting for a very long time. Since the time I was in bed battling dengue, I wanted this. I had all the reasons to believe that it would come. I was constantly crossing 65m in training and with a light hammer (5 kg), I was throwing 80m and above,” explained Nirbhay.

While he missed the Asian Games cut, Nirbhay believes he has bigger throws inside him.

“I want to obliterate this national record six or seven more times. I hope after this throw, I get more international exposure and that will bring the best out of me. I don’t regret missing the Asian Games but I am sure that bigger throws and competitions are there for me,” he said.

With just one more national competition left this year, Nirbhay has got a good base to start off in the 2027 season where World Championships and Olympics qualification will start.