The Dynamo of European athletics is blowing the whistle. The javelin dynasty is history gathering dust, and the situation in other throwing sports is not much better, writes Pekka Holopainen.
Pekka Holopainen Sports journalist
In recent years, German javelin throwers have often been responsible for the quality entertainment of the Finnish athletics summer. Mixed Thomas Röhler that John Weather have thrown more than 91 meters at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, and even more than 93 meters in Vetter Kuortane.
When the javelin was thrown in Kuortane on Saturday, neither Vetter’s nor Röhler’s figure stood out from the speedway, just as it did not stand out on Tuesday in Turku either.
Before the season opener in early June, Vetter, the London world champion, dreamed of an 85-meter throw, but it was a cloud castle. In Hengelo, he flew 72.85, and apparently a very severe functional disorder in the shoulder area has thrown the almost 98-meter monster thrower’s career into a downward slope.
In Urheilu’s story, Vetter’s optimism was noted by the sports coach of the Sports Confederation Petteri Piironen sent a professional message before the Hengelo event, in which he predicts the level of the sympathetic German stud to be a little over 70 meters at the moment.
Piironen had come to these gloomy and realized conclusions after observing Vetter’s activities and the imbalance of the biomechanical chain for a long time at the training camp held in Belek, Turkey.
The career continues on Facebook
Röhler’s career is already at the bottom of the slope. The Olympic champion and the European champion is working today Teemu Wirkkalan level, and there is no rising from that pit.
To the surprise of the experts, the focus of side training shifted to crossfit in 2018. It is an excellent side exercise in many sports, but not specifically in the javelin throw.
The muscle was soon slow, the stroke acquired in the triple jump and the Explosiveness on its way, a career alive only on social media.
And when the duo’s main assistant, at best, has a 92-meter shot by Andreas Hofmann the anterior cruciate ligament broke in his knee at the beginning of the season, his career is probably over at the age of 31.
It discussed the men who hold the 2nd, 3rd and 9th places in the all-time world statistics. Germany is the only country with such a rich representation in that statistic.
Surprisingly, only the European champion in Munich remains Julian Weber, who after his own injury cycle has risen to the top of the world. But when the eye is looking for the next German pitcher in the statistics of the 2023 season, you can scroll for a long time. Max Dehning found on June 15 at rank 83.
Since 2010, German men have won nine javelin medals in prestigious competitions, the brightest streak being the gold streak from the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 to the European Championships in Berlin 2018. In the same period, Finnish men won seven medals.
During the same period, German female throwers won no less than 11 prestigious medals. Armon in 2023 Germany’s best female thrower Christine Hussongthe 2018 European champion, by mid-June had positioned himself in the 39th place in the world statistics.
Taking into account both the history of two and then one Germany in this sport, the situation is a total disaster. The German spear dynasty isn’t even in its spirit anymore, it’s history.
When a country is as successful as Germany in some form of competition, such as the javelin, one would think that there would be a lot of depth in the background and talent seriously striving for the top.
I visited the most famous javelin coach in the country about this topic By Boris Obergföll (formerly Henry, Vetter’s coach) in an eye-opening debate at the World Championships in Eugene last summer. The top thrower of the past years frankly admitted that there is no room for disintegration in the top cadres in Germany – that’s how thin the base is.
– There is nothing behind the peak, Obergföll admitted.
When Helsinki’s first European Championships of the Olympic year were criticized for the lack of stars in 2012, the situation was somewhat saved by the fact that still rock-hard Germany sent its throwing ace to Finland in every sport.
Now this machine has also stopped working. In addition to the men’s javelin, in mid-June the German athlete was only in the top ten of the world statistics in the women’s shot put and discus.
will show the athletics EC team competitions on Midsummer from Chorzów, Poland.
Pekka Holopainen
The author is a columnist based in Pori and the only sports reporter who has been selected as Journalist of the Year in Finland.
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