The German thrower has struggled with injuries for three years. Preparation for next year also started with a setback.
Javelin world champion Johannes Vetter adversity continues.
The two previous years were virtually completely sidelined for the German due to a shoulder injury. This season was ruined by pain in the elbow from the beginning of the year.
Vetter’s only race of the season is at the end of June. Then he finished sixth in the German championships with a score of 73.16.
Vetter, 31, had an operation in his home country this week to clean up his pitching elbow. Vetter’s competition manager Tero Heiskan according to the plan, the plan changed in the middle of the surgery, where a new tear was revealed in the ligament on the inside of the elbow.
– Surprisingly, the magnetic resonance images didn’t show it, but it was supposed to be a muscle injury that needs to be cleaned. The real side of the matter only became clear when we started to cut. The ligament was replaced, Heiska tells Urheilu.
Vetter has to rehabilitate his elbow for six months.
– It’s about the same injury that Keshorn had recently, Heiska says and refers to his protégé Keshorn to Walcottwhose elbow Harri Panula will operate from the end of 2017.
Vetter is the javelin man who has thrown the second most results of more than 90 meters in history – 17 out of 28 races. There is only ME man ahead of him Jan Zelezny, who threw 53 goals over 90 meters in his career in 34 games. Vetter’s record of 97.76 in 2020 is second all-time, just 72 cents behind Zelezny’s world record.
The collaboration between Heiska and Vetter began at the end of 2020. The year 2021 was still wild, when Vetter achieved 90-meter results in seven races in a row, including the season’s top throw of 96.29.
However, the throwing platform at the Tokyo Olympics could not withstand the impact force of the German support leg, and Vetter finished ninth in the final.
The following years have been painful.
– This hasn’t been easy, when you haven’t been able to throw a decent race in three years. However, there is still strong motivation to go next year, says Heiska.