Christina Obergföll puts Berlin disappointment behind her – European Athletics (EAA) – News

German Javelin thrower Christina Obergföll was a decent bet for a medal on home soil at last year's World Championships in Berlin but the former European record holder could only finish fifth and, instead, it was her compatriot Steffi Nerius who became the heroine.

After having won silver medals at the two preceding World Championships in 2005 and 2007, and also a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, Obergföll might have felt that her time had come.

However, it was not to be and Javelin fans around the world saw her dejectedly finish the competition in Berlin with her head in her hands.

Now she is looking to bounce back by getting on the podium at this summer's European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, after finishing just out of the medals in fourth place four years ago.

Obergföll remains the German record holder and her best of 70.20m, which she threw for a European record at the SPAR European Cup in 2007, still ranks her as the fourth best female Javelin thrower of all-time.

"When you look back at what happened last year, it was the most disappointing year for me. It really took me really long time to digest this," said the 28-year-old from Offenburg in an interview with the German athletics federation web site www.leichtathletik.de.  

She had suffered from various niggling injury problems earlier in 2009 but does not use that as an excuse for missing out on a medal in Berlin.

After all, she won the inaugural SPAR European Team Championships in June with an impressive 68.59m, which was ultimately to be her best throw of the year.

"But I was defeated by Steffi Nerius at the German Championships in Ulm (on July 5) and it went downhill from there. I still do not know exactly why. I had done nothing differently in training than in previous years.

"Finally I have been feeling confident that I can throw 67 or 68 metres again. I haven't competed yet (her first competition is likely to be at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 14) so I'm not going to make any predictions, so far I have done nothing. I want to stay healthy and have fun but if that happens and, everything works the way I imagine, then things could go well.

"But it's taken me until now to be able to say that I'm back and I've set my I set my goals (for the summer)," she added.

Nerius may now have retired but Obergföll isn't the only woman ensuing German women's Javelin throwing who is in the spotlight.

"There's Linda Stahl (sixth at the 2009 World Championships, one place behind Obergföll), I do believe that she can make my life difficult. She has already proven what she can do so I'm not going to say that I'm automatically going to become the German champion again. However, I am very glad to say that she will force me to be a better thrower," reflected Obergföll.

European Athletics (EAA) – News