Robert’s Hart is in Discus –

Lars Riedel was a five-time World Champion and Jurgen Schult is the World Record-holder and a former Olympic Champion, however a worthy successor could well have emerged in the shape of Robert Harting, who bagged a shock silver medal in the men's Discus at the World Championships in Osaka.

A fifth round effort of 66.68m shifted the talented 22-year-old up to second behind Estonia's Gerd Kanter (68.94m) while two-time Olympic Champion and pre-event favourite Virgilijus Alekna finished down in fourth – a position that had been beyond the original expectations of Harting, the former European U23 Champion.

"Before the championships we (Harting and his coach) set a target of finishing between sixth and eighth but after qualifying (where Harting was fourth with 66.26m) we aimed for a bronze medal," Harting told European Athletics.
"But in the end the colour surprised me because I never expect Virgilijus Alekna to be behind me."

The medal was a rich reward for a talented junior who was always likely to gravitate towards the throws. Born in Cottbus in the former East Germany, his mother and father were both Shot Putters and despite dabbling with multi-events he quickly discovered that throws were his forte. Within a year of specialising in Discus, Harting finished third at the German Youth Championships and moved to Berlin in an effort to seek out the best coaching, it was here he met his current coach, Werner Goldmann.

Harting made a breakthrough on to the international scene in 2003 and led the rankings with 64.05m (with the 1.75kg Discus) going into the European Junior Championships in Tampere when disaster struck.

"I fell out of the bus before the qualifying," Harting admitted. "The steps from the bus stairs where so slippery and I didn't expect this and I broke my ankle!"

Despite his injury Harting bravely took to the circle in a desperate effort to qualify, but after one throw he knew he could not possibly continue and abandoned his bid.

In 2004 he threw a personal best of 64.05m with the 2kg implement but was less consistent and left his long-time coach Werner Goldmann to link up with Schult, the World Record-holder and former Olympic Champion. The move appeared to be working well when in Harting landed gold at the 2005 European U23 Championships in front of his home crowd in Erfurt with 64.50m but the pair had their difficulties and split.

Harting then rejoined Goldmann in April last year but because of limited preparation for the 2006 season, was performing a little below-par with the German failing to qualify for the final of the European Championships in Gothenburg. But after a full winter's training behind him, the 2007 season proved an unmitigated success.

In June he threw a lifetime best of 66.93m in Schonebeck and he enjoyed a supremely consistent year leading up to his Osaka success. But the young German is not resting on his laurels, and he knows there is room for improvement ahead of next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.

"A thrower is never finished with his technique and I always have to keep on trying to improve," said Harting. "I want to make my throw more natural, so I have to keep working on the rhythm. If everything works well through the year the plan is to go for a bronze in Beijing."

Source/Courtesy
European Athletics (EAA)
https://www.european-athletics.org/
EAA