Elite athletes are used to dealing with setbacks. Injury, loss of funding, a change in coaches; it’s all part and parcel of track and field.But when German steeplechaser Antje Moldner-Schmidt went warm-weather training in Spain in January 2010, her world was rocked by something much bigger than the usual difficulties athletes have to face.“I noticed a pain on my collarbone, which developed into a swelling,” she said. “When I was back in Germany, I had it examined and a biopsy revealed lymph node cancer."The timing was hardly ideal. Having switched from the 1500m to the steeplechase in 2008, she was on the verge of a breakthrough.She broke the German record in her first 3000m steeplechase race, then won the national title to book her spot on the Olympic team. Although she didn’t make the final in Beijing, she took another five seconds off her national record in the heats.Her success continued in 2009, winning the European Team Championships and reducing the national record three more times throughout the course of the season, culminating in a ninth-place finish in 9:18.54 at the IAAF World Championships on home soil in Berlin.Moldner-Schmidt had been looking forward to more improvements in 2010. Instead, at the age of 25, she found herself undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy.It was about nine months before Moldner-Schmidt was able to begin any type of physical activity, but her immune system was so weak that initially she could only jog a few hundred metres every three days.Unsurprisingly, she took most of 2011 out from competition to regain her strength, but she participated in a 10km road race, a 1500m and the steeplechase at the German Championships, where she finished fourth.Just one year later, she regained her German title, took bronze at the European Championships and finished seventh in the Olympic final. She was back.New perspectiveThe 30-year-old feels strongly that the illness has given her a balance in her life that she didn’t have before.“When I was diagnosed, the priority was to get healthy as quickly as possible, whether that be with sport or without,” she said. “I received different prognoses from different doctors. Some told me to give up sport; others told me I could do sport again. In the end, I took my own journey and I feel I have shown what is possible when you keep the faith and have a good team around you.”Her comeback continued this year when she won her first international gold medal, winning the steeplechase at the European Championships in Zurich.After taking the bronze in 2012, she described her 2014 victory as “the high point of her career” after a strong finish saw her cross the line first ahead of Sweden’s Charlotta Fougberg and Spain’s Diana Martin.“It was a completely unexpected gold medal,” she said, modestly. “I didn’t start running until January as I had a bad achilles from 2013, so with this in mind, 2014 was completely crazy for me.”As a result of what she has been through, Moldner-Schmidt has adopted a more relaxed approach to training. “I train more balanced and listen to my inner voice. We are not machines,” she said. “I feel I have been given a second life, so I want to enjoy it to the full.”Athletics is in the genesAlmost everyone in Moldner-Schmidt’s immediate family has been involved in athletics. Her father was a race walker, so too was her older brother Olaf, who represented Germany at two editions of the IAAF World Race Walking Cup. Her twin sister Berit and older sister Silke were both middle-distance runners too.But it soon became clear that Moldner-Schmidt was the most talented athlete in the family. She represented Germany at the 2001 World Youth and 2002 World Junior Championships. In 2005, she made her first major championships final, finishing sixth in the 1500m at the European Indoor Championships. Later that year, she took bronze over the same distance at the European Under-23 Championships.A few years later, she switched to the steeplechase and never looked back.Coached by Beate Conrad since 2001, Moldner-Schmidt does most of her training alone in Cottbus. “I’m from a small club, where the younger athletes are the priority,” said Moldner-Schmidt, who likes to go riding, walking or travelling with her husband in her spare time.“I don’t have any training partners, but that is not a problem for me. I like training on my own. I like to run according to feeling.”Like many German athletes, Moldner-Schmidt is employed in the sports sector of the German police force, which means she can earn a living while focusing on her sport. “My athletics training is my job,” she says. “I am exempt from active service, but usually do a four-week placement at the end of the season. After I finish athletics, I can work as a policewoman.”Moldner-Schmidt has a motto – ‘Enjoy each day as much as you can, as you never know if it may be your last’ – that she likes to live by, never looking too far into the future.“Every competition is a highlight,” she said. “My aim is to stay healthy. I no longer set myself long-term aims, as things can change so quickly.”Her current goals go as far as next year’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing, and possibly even the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, providing her health permits.Having been through what she has been through, athletics is no longer the be-all and end-all for Moldner-Schmidt. But, as she says with a smile: “It’s always worth fighting for.”Emily Moss for the IAAF

Elite athletes are used to dealing with setbacks. Injury, loss of funding, a change in coaches; it’s all part and parcel of track and field.

Moldner-Schmidt’s new lease of life

The ISTAF Berlin meeting, part of the IAAF World Challenge, will see nine Olympic, 15 world and 15 European champions lining up on the blue track of Berlin&rsquo;s iconic Olympic stadium on Sunday (31).Poster boy and local hero Robert Harting will be looking to maintain his strong form in the discus, which saw him being crowned European champion only two weeks ago.&nbsp; The world and Olympic champion calls the stadium his &ldquo;living room&rdquo; and hasn&rsquo;t been defeated there in four years. Looking to spoil the party will be Poland&rsquo;s former European champion Piotr Malachowski as well as 2008 Olympic champion Gerd Kanter from Estonia, while one of the event&rsquo;s all-time greats, Lithuania&rsquo;s Virgilijus Alekna, will be using the meet to say goodbye to the sport. The 42-year-old double Olympic and double world champion still holds the second furthest throw ever with 73.88m and won the prestigious meet, which celebrates its 73rd edition this year, at three previous editions.Meanwhile, the women&rsquo;s hammer is part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge and world record-holder Betty Heidler, who is one of six local athletes in the field, will take on third in the all-time lists Anita Wlodarczyk. The Pole took the European title in Zurich in a championship record of 78.76m, the third best throw ever, and could be a threat to the meeting record of 77.40m.Newly crowned Diamond Race winner Reese Hoffa will face a loaded field consisting of Germany&rsquo;s double world champion David Storl, fellow US thrower and world leader Joe Kovacs, Poland&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, Jamaica&rsquo;s Commonwealth Games champion O&rsquo;Dayne Richards and New Zealand&rsquo;s world indoor bronze medallist Tom Walsh. All will be looking to get close to the 21.62m meeting record. In the women&rsquo;s event, European champion Christina Schwanitz is the clear favourite to take the victory.Europe versus the worldOn the track, European 800m champion Adam Kszczot of Poland is looking to challenge Ethiopia&rsquo;s world champion Mohammed Aman.Algeria&rsquo;s Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi and Olympic bronze medallist Timothy Kitum could also challenge.The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles is promising to be another highlight on the track with a field consisting of world and European champions and medallists including the likes of US pair Brianna Rollins and Nia Ali, Great Britain&rsquo;s Tiffany Porter and local star Cindy Roleder.In the men&rsquo;s event two years ago, it was no one less than Olympic champion Aries Merritt who set a meeting record of 12.97 before clocking a world record of 12.80 a week later at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels. On Sunday, Merritt will be going head to head against 2008 Olympic champion Dayron Robles.Moldner-Schmidt to inspire home crowdThe women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase was initially not part of the schedule, but after Antje Moldner-Schmidt&rsquo;s gutsy gold medal run at the European Championships, the event was added to the timetable. Moldner-Schmidt proved an inspiration to many when taking the European title after returning from breast cancer only four years ago.In the men&rsquo;s 100m, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Richard Thompson and South Africa&rsquo;s Simon Magakwe who have both recorded times below 10 seconds this season. Also going to the blocks will be Great Britain&rsquo;s world indoor 60m champion Richard Kilty as well as Sven Knipphals, Lucas Jakubczyk and Alexander Kosenkow, three members of Germany&rsquo;s European 4x100m silver medal squad.Another European champion from Zurich gracing the track in Berlin will be Britain&rsquo;s Martyn Rooney, who will face the likes of Kevin Borlee and Isaac Makwala, while Germany&rsquo;s Kamghe Gaba is hoping to take get a boost from the home crowd.The men&rsquo;s pole vault features world indoor champion Konstantinos Filippidis as well as Jan Kudlicka and Pawel Wojciechowksi, two European medallists, while the men&rsquo;s long jump sees 2010 European champion Christian Reif line up against South Africa&rsquo;s Zarck Visser and Godfrey Mokoena.It&rsquo;s not just the athletes who are promising to light up the track with their performances. The organisers&rsquo; new concept &ldquo;ISTAF 3.0&rdquo; is going to be short, sweet and loud, and will feature a tunnel-like entrance similar to that of the IAAF World Relays as well as fireworks, athletes&rsquo; individual music requests and more.Michelle Sammet for the IAAF

The ISTAF Berlin meeting, part of the IAAF World Challenge, will see nine Olympic, 15 world and 15 European champions lining up on the blue track of Berlin’s iconic Olympic stadium on Sunday (31).

Harting, Heidler and Hoffa put the spotlight on the throws in Berlin

As part of their promise to showcase all of Germany&rsquo;s medallists from the recent European Championships, organisers of the ISTAF meeting have added the women&rsquo;s shot put and steeplechase to the programme of the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Berlin on 31 August.It means that European champions Christina Schwanitz and Antje Moldner-Schmidt will join the line-up, alongside fellow European champions David Storl and Robert Harting, both of whom had been already announced, completing Germany&rsquo;s quartet of gold medallists from Zurich.It&rsquo;s not just Germany&rsquo;s gold medallists who will be in action in Berlin, as all of the nation&rsquo;s other medallists from Zurich have also been invited.Discus bronze medallist Shanice Craft will contest the shot put, an event in which she won the world junior title two years ago, while 100m bronze medallist Cindy Roleder will take on European champion Tiffany Porter in the sprint hurdles.The quartet of sprinters who took silver in the men&rsquo;s 4x100m &ndash; Julian Reus, Lucas Jakubczyk, Sven Knippahls and Alexander Kosenkow &ndash; will contest the 100m in the German capital, and European bronze medallist Linda Stahl will line up for the javelin.Storl&rsquo;s opponents in the men&rsquo;s shot have also been revealed, and they include world leader Joe Kovacs, former world champion Reese Hoffa, two-time world indoor champion Ryan Whiting and double Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski.&ldquo;We are trying everything to keep our promise to present all of the German medallists and as many European champions as possible at the ISTAF,&rdquo; said meeting director Martin Seeber. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased that both Christina Schwanitz and Antje Moldner-Schmidt have agreed immediately and now the German golden quartet will be on show in Berlin.&rdquo;Organisers for the IAAF

As part of their promise to showcase all of Germany’s medallists from the recent European Championships, organisers of the ISTAF meeting have added the women’s shot put and steeplechase to the programme of the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Berlin on 31 August.

Moldner-Schmidt’s new lease of life

Harting, Heidler and Hoffa put the spotlight on the throws in Berlin

All of Germany’s European medallists will compete in Berlin