Julia Fischer of Germany on her way to gold in the Discus Throw final (© Getty Images)
The winner of the Girls’ discus World Youth title came as a surprise to everyone – not least Julia Fischer herself, who entered the championships hoping to win a medal of any colour.
More specifically, she thought bronze would be the best she could win, having seen that Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic and China’s Yuanyuan Jin were entered for the competition. The pair led this year’s World Youth lists with 53.95m and 57.58m respectively – so far ahead of the opposition, it seemed a formality that they would be fighting it out for gold and silver with the rest battling for bronze.
Perkovic and Jin led the qualifying too, but the final saw the formbook being thrown out of the window. Fischer, third in qualifying and third in the throwing order, unleashed the discus out to a personal best of 51.39 in the opening round – a mark the favourites came close to, but could not quite beat.
Channelling her nervous energy
Perkovic’s qualifying throw (52.54m) would have been enough to win the final but her best in the evening session was just 51.25m, while Jin threw 51.20m. An elated Fischer could not believe her luck.
“I wanted to win a medal all along,” said Fischer, who stands in excess of 1.85m. “I was pretty nervous because I knew the Chinese girl and Croatian girl could throw far and the British girl was a danger too. But maybe I made them nervous with my first throw – they couldn’t seem to match it!”
Gold number two for Germany
It was Germany’s second gold medal of the evening. The Boys’ Shot Put held moments earlier witnessed a very similar scenario whereby the favourite underperformed, the second-favourite – also from Croatia – did not step up to take gold, leaving the way clear for a German win.
“This makes it two gold medals for Germany in one night,” said Fischer. “That is just unbelievable.”
Part of strong training group
But who is this newcomer? Fischer hails from the SCC Berlin club – the same club as André Höhne, who placed fourth in the 20km walk at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki two years ago. Fischer trains with Robert Harting, the 2005 European Under-23 Champion. “He gives me a lot of advice,” said Fischer, who is coached by Werner Goldmann, a national throws coach.
Fischer is just the latest in a long line of German throwers who excelled at the youth level. Ilke Wyludda, Astrid Kumbernuss and Franka Dietzsch all threw far as 17-year-olds in the mid-Eighties. Dietzsch, now 39, is still going strong today of course and is the reigning World champion. But Fischer realises she has a long way to go before emulating the legendary veteran.
“Franka is unique and it will be difficult to get to her level,” said Fischer, who will compete in the German Junior Championships when she returns from Ostrava. “But this is just the beginning for me.”
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
