Although he couldn’t win a medal in Tokyo, Johannes Vetter is virtually in some other world when it comes to javelin throw.
While Neeraj Chopra is yet to hit the 90m mark, the German has crossed the landmark more than 15 times and is second in the all-time World list with 97.76m that had come in September, 2020.
India’s leading female javelin thrower Annu Rani, who now has her training base in Offenburg, where the former World champion also trains, was keen to know how Vetter manages to notch up those mighty numbers.
“I asked him, ‘what’s the secret of throwing 97m?’,” said Rani in a chat with Sportstar on Wednesday.
“He said just focus on your training and technique with discipline and hard work, it’s possible.”
But Vetter can be in a real bad mood when things don’t go right for him .“He is very aggressive, too angry sometimes. When his throws are not going well, he will kick everything around him... the wall too,” said Rani.
“He also supports me. He told me, ‘you try to fix your technique because your power is good.’ Sometimes, we train together.”
But she doesn’t talk to Vetter about the Tokyo Olympics where he strangely went into a shell, shocking the world. “We don’t talk about the Olympics, we talk about general training,” she said.
Kelsey’s season-opener
Rani, who owns the national record with 63.82m, won the gold in the Federation Cup with 59.24m and was satisfied with the effort.
“This is good because this is a season-opener. Two-time World Champion Kelsey-Lee Barber (Australian, personal best 67.70m) opened her season with 57. I’m doing 59,” Rani said with a smile.
Her coach Werner Daniels, who guided Neeraj Chopra for a brief period in 2017, did not want Rani to worry about the distance in the Federation Cup.
“The coach told me, ‘I don’t want 64 or 65m, only focus on your technique and angle of release since this is your first competition.’,” said the 30-year-old from Uttar Pradesh.
“We are thinking of 64 and 65m at the Worlds.”
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