German throwing squad starts
year under a warm Cuban sun
Javier Clavelo Robinson
for the IAAF.
31 January 2006.
Havana, Cuba - Three of Germany's World
Championship throwing event medallists Franka
Dietzsch, Steffi Nerius and Ralf Bartels
began 2006 with a two-week training camp
in Havana, where they took advantage of
Cuba's warm weather to prepare for the new
season.
The Helsinki medal trio, along with Hammer
finalists, Susanne Keil and Markus Esser
headed a 16-member squad from Neubrandenburg
and Leverkusen. Keil made it to the 2003
and 2005 World Championships final, while
Esser finished fourth at the 2005 World
Championships in Helsinki. Now returned
to colder northern climes, the squad had
an extremely successful and enjoyable trip
to the island.
"It is very easy, it is so sunny.
I was here in 1987. I said to my coach after
the World Championships that we should go
to Cuba because I like it very much. That's
why we stay here", said Dietzsch, the
1999 and 2005 World Discus Throw champion
while in Cuba.
The four-time Olympian has set her sights
on the European Championships in Gothenburg,
Sweden, this summer where she wants to regain
the continental title which she won in Budapest,
Hungary in 1998.
"I hope to have a nice season like
last year. I have to train very hard because
everyone says that as the World champion,
we want to beat you. My training is now
harder than before," she continued.
She is confident about the future of women's
throwing in her country. "We have good
and promising athletes in Germany like European
under-23 champion Sabine Rumpf and others.
Overall, I hope we win more medals as a
country in Gothenburg. It's the European
Champs so we have more chances. Nils Schumann
is training hard, he is getting better and
he hopes to run in Gothenburg", she
concluded.
Nerius: "I came to learn how to win"
Steffi Nerius of Germany takes bronze in
the women's Javelin
(Getty Images)
"It is very cold in Germany now and
we want to do a little bit of weight lifting,
throwing, jumps and runs. You can do it
on the beach, there's a good atmosphere
when you don't have to wear extra clothes
because you can train with just a t-shirt",
said Nerius, the 2003 and 2005 World bronze
medallist and 2004 Olympic runner-up in
the women's Javelin Throw.
But more importantly, "I want to see
how Cuban girls train. It's beautiful to
see how they train under the conditions
here and to see where they live. I have
a lot of respect for their athletes, considering
the conditions they have here compared to
those which we have at home," commented
Nerius. She has exchanged ideas with World
and Olympic champion Osleidys Menéndez,
and the Cuban showed her some of the most
interesting parts of Havana.
Like Dietzsch, the 33-year-old thrower
aims to win a medal at the European Championships
and the World Cup in Athens (16-17 Sep).
"But the most important thing is to
stay healthy with no injuries and to have
a good season. I truly look forward to the
World Athletics Final in Stuttgart (9 -
10 Sep), competing against Cubans in our
own country."
Her major goal is to break the European
record (70.03), set by her colleague Christina
Obergföll at the World Championships
final in Helsinki. "It's a big mark
and everyone wants to throw 70 metres. I
want to beat the German record and I am
sure about this."
Since 2005, when "I had so much problem
with my back, I take my plans year by year.
I am 33, I am not so young. Javelin is a
hard event. I now think of 2006, then 2007
and the 2008 Olympics. In 2009, it may be
the right to retire as the World Championships
will be in Berlin," concluded Nerius.
Nerius and Cuba's Sonia Bisset were the
only women to beat Menéndez in 2005.
The German defeated the Cuban star at the
Super Grand Prix in Athens, and was on the
verge of another win at the World Athletics
Final in Monaco, but Menéndez prevailed
with a longer last effort.
"We wanted to have a look at the Cuban
athletes this year," confirmed Nerius'
coach Helge Zollkau, who has looked after
her since 1999. "We didn't win any
(major) competition last year. The weather
is really good now compared to Germany.
Two weeks are not enough, but most of my
athletes are working and cannot leave their
job for a longer period."
Bartels seeks a medal in Moscow
Also training in the Estadio Panamericano
in Havana, Helsinki Shot bronze medallist
Ralf Bartels confirmed, "I want to
repeat my Helsinki podium position at the
Moscow Indoor Championships." Bartels,
who with the rest of the squad is now back
in Germany, last weekend produced a 20.77m
release in a competition in Nordhausen (27
Jan).
The 2004 Olympic finalist aims to do better
in the European Champs than four years ago
in Munich, where he finished third. "Silver
or maybe gold," he confirmed.
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Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF
- All Rights Reserved.
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