Only weeks until the Olympics.
Then Daniel Ståhl shows historically poor form.
But a blunder was behind the result.
– Thank God it is unusual for that to happen, says his trainer Staffan Jönsson.
A few years ago, Swedish discus was at its peak, with Daniel Ståhl winning major championships and Simon Pettersson winning silver in the last Olympics. But Daniel Ståhl’s form has deteriorated every year since the last Olympics, and Pettersson didn’t even qualify for Paris to defend his second place.
New setback
With weeks left until the Olympics, Daniel Ståhl can look back on a season where he was often far from the best in the world. At the same time as Mykolas Alekna broke a new world record, Ståhl has had problems even getting over 70 meters, and on Tuesday came the next setback for Ståhl in the pursuit of Alekna and Kristjan Ceh, and the form before the Olympics.
When Daniel Ståhl competed in Hungary on Tuesday, he stopped at a very modest 63.36, a result that is modestly bad even for a completely out of shape Ståhl. The explanation for the weak result was poor preparation, according to coach Staffan Jönsson.
– Yes, it was 33-35 degrees here in Hungary and we failed to stock up on enough food and drink before the competition, he tells Aftonbladet.
Worst in six(!) years
But the fact is that the result, poor preparations notwithstanding, was historically bad for Ståhl. The last time he had such a weak result and placement was in June 2018(!), i.e. a full six years ago. But Staffan Jönsson was not overly worried, but believed that it was the preparations that were behind the setback.
– It is something we can learn from, and thank God it is rare that it happens, he says.
There are more gloomy figures for Ståhl ahead of the Olympics. According to Aftonbladet, he has lost six of six meetings with world number one Mykolas Alekna this season, and of seven meetings against Slovenian Kristjan Ceh, he has only won two. Despite that, Staffan Jönsson feels positive about the Olympics.
– Now we are going home to Malmö and train and prepare for the coming weeks to be able to compete in the Olympics. Everything feels very good, both mentally and physically and the technique is starting to fit more and more.. The season has been a bit up and down, but at the same time it means that the favorite is no longer ours. So we can be a little cool, he says.
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